Luke 7:36 – 8:3
In the first reading, the prophet
Nathan confronts King David with the fact that the Lord was
exceedingly generous towards him, and yet he committed terrible sins:
first, adultery with the wife of one of his loyal soldiers; then
murder to cover up the first sin. David admits to his sin, and
immediately Nathan assures him that even though there will be
consequences, namely, that the sword will not depart from his house,
and later, that the child of this union will die, God has already
forgiven David's sin. And then we hear Paul assuring us that if
justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing; in
other words, we are not forgiven because of the works we do, but
because of faith in Christ Jesus.
And then in what seems to be a
turn-around, Jesus tells Simon that because this woman has loved
much, her sins are forgiven. Jesus seems to be saying that because
of her works, she is forgiven, not because of faith. He even
compares the love Simon showed with that of the woman, adding to the
idea that the more you do, the more you will be forgiven. To confuse
matters further, Jesus dismisses the woman by saying “Your faith
has saved you, now go in peace.”
Perhaps one of the biggest
controversies in Christianity has to do with how we are justified, or
forgiven, or saved – however you want to put it. Even in the New
Testament there is controversy; much of the Epistle of James seems to
have been written to clarify what Paul wrote in Romans. Paul says
this: “If Abraham was justified by God for the things he did, he
would have reason to boast; but … the scripture says :Abraham
believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as
righteous.” But James says, “How was Abraham put right with God?
It was when he offered his son Isaac on the altar... You see then it
is by his actions that a person is put right with God, not by faith
alone.”
And there are other passages on both
sides of the issue: Jesus says we are to have faith in the son of
man, but in the Gospel of Matthew those who have done good works even
not knowing they have been doing them for the Master are justified.
Controversy over how we are saved
caused the Protestant reformation. It's interesting that Martin
Luther did everything he could to assure himself of salvation, until
he had a near nervous breakdown. Afterward he found evidence in
scripture that faith in Jesus is all you need; nothing you can do
will change that. And Saint Francis de Sales, a few years later,
went through the same kind of crisis, but in his case he responded by
by becoming a priest, later a bishop, and spending his life doing
good works.
To be fair, the Catholic church always
taught that faith was necessary for salvation. There are too many
verses in scripture, even in James, that make that point. But the
issue is really what is meant by the word “Faith”. In Latin
there are two terms, Ascentia and Fiducia. Ascentia means that I
believe something – for example, I believe that Jesus lived on the
earth 2000 years ago and founded a church. You could probably find a
lot of people who aren't Christians who could agree with that
statement. But Fiducia implies not only belief but also trust, as in
“I believe Jesus is my Lord and Savior.” Implied in Fiducia is
action.
There are some Protestants who would
insist that all you have to do is acknowledge Jesus as your Lord and
Savior and you will be saved. And there are, unfortunately, some
Catholics who believe the more rosaries you say, the more masses you
attend, the more you avail yourself of the sacrament of Penance, the
more likely you will be saved. I remember reading about an exchange
between a reporter and a man who was very active in his parish and a
daily communicant. The reporter said, “You must really love the
Lord!” and the man replied, “I don't know about that, but I'm
making sure He'll have no excuse to keep me out of heaven.”
I think, though that the majority of
Christians – Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox – would agree that
a person who claims to be a Christian who does not act like one is
not one, regardless of what he says. So you are all saying, “Well
and good, but what does that have to do with me?” And I think
that's where we all can learn something from this story from the life
of Jesus. I identify with Simon; I try to lead a good life and stay
out of trouble and do what I need to do to stay on God's good side.
But compared to the woman weeping at Jesus feet, I love little. If
Jesus needed a meal I'd be happy to make him a sandwhich, even have
him over for supper. She on the other hand is demonstrating her love
by giving everything – symbolized by the alabaster flask full of
precious ointment – symbolized by using her own hair and tears to
wash His feet; symbolized by publically weeping over her sins. She
loves much.
Recently a young woman of my
acquaintance, a successful editor in a Catholic publishing house,
joined an order of sisters. She sold her car, donated her clothing,
closed her facebook account, got rid of her cell phone, and changed
her name. That is loving much.
The twelfth step in Alcoholics
Anonymous is an interesting one. It says, “Having had a spiritual
awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this
message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our
affairs.” It is a recognition that real faith implies putting
ourselves out, doing something about what we believe, otherwise, it
dies.
So this is a good day to ask the
question, how much do I love? Like Simon? Or like the woman?”
