11th Sunday of Ordinary Time, cycle C

11TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, CYCLE C
LUKE 7:36 – 8:3
THE FIRST THING TO GET STRAIGHT ABOUT THIS GOSPEL PASSAGE IS THAT SIMON THE PHARISEE IS A GOOD GUY. PHARISEES CAME IN A VARIETY OF TYPES. THERE WERE THOSE WE MEET IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN WHO ARE ALWAYS TRYING TO TRIP JESUS UP, AND WHEN THEY CAN'T THEY PLOT TO HAVE HIM KILLED. WE MEET OTHER PHARISEES LIKE PAUL WHO PROBABLY DID MORE TO BUILD UP THE EARLY CHURCH THAN ANY OTHER PERSON, AND EVEN LONG AFTER HE WAS A CHRISTIAN, HE CONTINUED TO BE PROUD OF THE FACT THAT HE HAD BEEN A PHARISEE. AND THEN THERE WERE ALL OF THOSE IN THE MIDDLE SOMEWHERE.
THE DISTINGUISHING THING ABOUT PHARISEES WAS THAT THEY PUBLICLY LIVED THE LAW. THEY KNEW EVERYTHING REQUIRED OF A GOOD JEW AND THEY DID IT, AND DID IT IN SPADES. IF THE LAW SAID TO WEAR A SHAWL WITH TASSELS ON IT WHILE YOU PRAYED, THEY DID, AND WORE AN EXTRA LONG ONE. THEY ACTED IN SUCH A WAY BECAUSE THEY SAW THEMSELVES AS PEOPLE CALLED TO GIVE EXAMPLE TO THEIR FELLOW JEWS. AND OF COURSE SOME GOT TO THE POINT WHERE THEY FORGOT THEIR ORIGINS, WHERE THEY BEGAN TO TAKE PRIDE IN HOW WELL THEY PRACTICED THE LAW; WHERE THEY BECAME HYPOCRITES.
BUT HERE IS SIMON. HE IS KIND OF IN THE MIDDLE. HE ISN'T ONE OF THOSE EXTREME PHARISEES WHO WON'T EVEN EAT SUPPER WITH SOMEONE WHO IS NOT A PHARISEE; AND YET HE ISN'T LAX, EITHER. AND HE INVITES JESUS TO SUPPER, PROBABLY SINCERELY, PROBABLY OUT OF GENEROSITY – BUT HE ISN'T GOING TO GO TO GREAT LENGTHS HERE; AFTER ALL, JESUS IS NOT A PHARISEE; JESUS HAS ALREADY SCANDALIZED THE ESTABLISHMENT; AND SIMON HAS HIS REPUTATION TO THINK ABOUT. SO HE IS TORN – HE WANTS TO HAVE SUPPER AND CONVERSATION WITH THIS FASCINATING MAN, JESUS, BUT HE DOESN'T WANT PEOPLE TO THINK HE WELCOMES JESUS WITH OPEN ARMS. SO HE SETS A VERY CASUAL TABLE – MORE OF A LUNCH; AND DOES NOT OFFER JESUS THE SIGNS OF HOSPITALITY THAT WERE REQUIRED OF A HOST GIVING A FORMAL DINNER.
THERE IS ANOTHER THING ABOUT SIMON. HE BELIEVES THAT BY FOLLOWING THE LAW REALLY WELL, HE WILL BE SAVED. JESUS MAY BE AN INTERESTING PREACHER, AND THE MIRACLES HE WORKED WERE IMPRESSIVE; BUT SIMON HAS NO NEED OF A SAVIOUR. HE CAN GET TO HEAVEN ON HIS OWN.
JESUS SAYS TO SIMON, “DO YOU SEE THIS WOMAN?” AND WE ALSO LOOK AT HER. EVERYONE KNOWS SHE IS A SINNER. WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT MEANS? I THINK IF WE WERE TO TAKE A POLL, WE WOULD HAVE A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE IN THIS CHURCH WHO WOULD NAME THE SIN. SHE SELLS HERSELF FOR MONEY! IN FACT, DOWN THROUGH THE AGES, THOSE WHO COMMENTED ON THIS GOSPEL GENERALLY CONCLUDE THAT THIS IS THE CASE. BUT IT DOESN'T SAY. AND IN JESUS' TIME THERE WERE OTHER WAYS TO BE A PUBLIC SINNER. YOU MIGHT BE MARRIED TO A GENTILE. THAT GOT YOU THE LABEL. YOU MIGHT BE SOMEONE'S TROPHY WIFE, BECAUSE IN THOSE DAYS YOU COULD TAKE A SECOND WIFE IF YOU COULD AFFORD IT, WHILE KEEPING THE FIRST WIFE. YOU MIGHT EVEN BE SOMEONE WHO NEVER MARRIED, AND RAN HER OWN BUSINESS. YOU SEE, IT DIDN'T TAKE MUCH TO BE LABELED A SINNER. BUT THE REAL POINT IS THAT THIS WOMAN WAS ISOLATED, SHUNNED BY POLITE COMPANY; AND THE WHOLE SOCIETY HAS TOLD HER THAT SHE IS BEYOND REDEMPTION; THERE IS NO WAY SHE WILL ESCAPE TORMENT IN THE LIFE TO COME. AND SHE TOO HAS HEARD ABOUT JESUS, AND SHE MAKES THIS DRAMATIC ENTRANCE AND PERFORMS THOSE STRANGE ACTIONS BECAUSE SHE HAS FOUND ONE PERSON WHO ACCEPTS HER, WHO SEES BEYOND HER LABEL, WHO FORGIVES HER. ISN'T IT INTERESTING THAT JESUS DOES NOT SAY “I FORGIVE YOU” BUT SAYS, “YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN” AND EXPLAINS THAT IT IS BECAUSE OF HER GREAT LOVE. SIMON THINKS HE DOESN'T NEED A SAVIOR. THIS WOMAN KNOWS SHE NEEDS ONE.
AND THAT IS THE POINT OF THE STORY JESUS TELLS. IF YOU ARE THE RECIPIENT OF FORGIVENESS, YOU LOVE IN PROPORTION TO THAT FORGIVENESS. SIMON LOVES A LITTLE, BUT NOT MUCH; HE IS HELD DOWN BY HIS SOCIAL POSITION AND BY HIS OWN BELIEF THAT AS LONG AS HE LIVES THE LAW, HE'LL BE FINE. JESUS COMES TO SIMON, BUT IT DOESN'T APPEAR THAT IT DID SIMON MUCH GOOD. THE WOMAN LOVES GREATLY, AND DEMONSTRATES THIS LOVE – IT ISN'T JUST LIP SERVICE. SHE KNOWS THAT NO MATTER WHAT SHE DOES, SHE WILL STILL BE A SINNER; SHE KNOWS THAT IT ISN'T IN HER POWER TO BECOME RIGHTEOUS. SHE KNOWS THAT SHE NEEDS FORGIVENESS, SHE NEEDS A SAVIOR.
IT SEEMS THAT THERE ARE AT LEAST TWO TAKE-HOME POINTS HERE. THE FIRST IS THE IMPACT OF FORGIVENESS; SIMON CONDEMNS, JESUS PRONOUNCES FORGIVENESS. HAD SIMON HAD HIS WAY, THE WOMAN WOULD HAVE BEEN THROWN OUT IN THE STREET, BACK TO HER ISOLATION, BACK TO HER BROKEN LIFE, WITH NO HOPE OF GETTING OUT OF IT. ARE WE, BY FAILING TO FORGIVE, CONDEMNING OTHERS TO HURT THAT DOESN'T NEED TO BE, TO ISOLATION THAT WE COULD EASILY FIX? THE SECOND IS THAT WE AREN'T GOING TO GET CLOSE TO JESUS UNLESS WE REALIZE, DEEP IN OUR BEINGS, THAT WE NEED A SAVIOR. AND PERHAPS IT IS A GOOD TIME TO ASK YOURSELF, REALLY AND TRULY, WHETHER YOU BELIEVE YOU NEED SAVING. A LOT OF CATHOLICS ARE LIKE SIMON; THEY BELIEVE AS LONG AS THEY FOLLOW THE RULES, AVOID SERIOUS SIN, AND COME TO MASS ON SUNDAY, THINGS WILL WORK OUT. DEEP IN THEIR HEARTS THEY DON'T BELIEVE THEY ARE SINNERS, THEY DON'T BELIEVE THERE IS MUCH TO FORGIVE IN THEIR LIVES. AND THE LAST POINT IS THAT GENEROSITY AND FORGIVENESS AND LOVE ARE ALL TIED TOGETHER. JESUS MAKES IT CLEAR THAT SIMON, WHO HAS SHOWN ONLY A LITTLE GENEROSITY, WHO HAS DEMONSTRATED ONLY A LITTLE LOVE, WILL CONTINUE WITH THE BURDEN OF HIS OWN SINS, WHEREAS THE WOMAN, WHO DID THE OPPOSITE, CAN WALK AWAY KNOWING THAT SHE IS FREE OF HER SINS, EVEN IF PEOPLE STILL CALL HER A SINNER.
LET US LOOK AT OUR LIVES, AT OUR GENEROSITY, AT OUT LOVE. LET US BE CONSCIOUS OF THE FACT THAT NO MATTER HOW GOOD WE THINK WE ARE, NO MATTER HOW MUCH WE DO FOR OUR CHURCH OR OUR NEIGHBOR, NOTHING WE DO IS GOING TO SAVE US. WE ALL NEED A SAVIOR. AND LET US ASK HOW WE ARE LOVING – LIKE SIMON? OR LIKE THE WOMAN KNOWN AS A SINNER.