Her Sins, Which Are Many, Are Forgiven

Where We Are

Thursday of the Twenty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time. The evangelist Luke gives us one of the most moving scenes in the Gospels: a sinful woman anoints Jesus's feet with her tears and perfume at a Pharisee's dinner table. The contrast between the Pharisee's cold judgment and the woman's extravagant love is the heart of the story. Paul preaches the foundational Gospel: Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose on the third day.

The Word

A Pharisee named Simon invites Jesus to dinner. A woman known as a sinner enters, stands behind Jesus weeping, and wets his feet with her tears. She wipes them with her hair, kisses them, and anoints them with perfume. Simon thinks: "If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him." Jesus tells a parable: two debtors are forgiven, one owing five hundred denarii, the other fifty. Which loves more? Simon answers correctly: the one forgiven more. Jesus turns to the woman: "Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she has loved much. But he to whom less is forgiven, loves less." Then to her: "Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has made you safe. Go in peace" (Luke 7:47-50).

Today's Full Readings

First Reading — 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Responsorial Psalm — Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 28

Gospel — Luke 7:36-50

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Reflect

This woman does everything that Simon should have done as a host but did not. In ancient hospitality, a good host provided water for feet, a kiss of greeting, and oil for the head. Simon offered none of these. The sinful woman provides all three, and more: tears instead of water, kisses instead of one kiss, expensive perfume instead of common oil.

Simon's religion is correct but cold. The woman's love is messy but genuine. Jesus does not condemn Simon; he teaches him. "He to whom less is forgiven, loves less." Simon sees himself as having a small debt to God. The woman knows her debt is enormous, and her gratitude matches it.

This is one of the most important insights in the Gospel: our capacity to love is directly proportional to our awareness of being forgiven. Those who have been forgiven much, love much. Those who think they need little forgiveness offer little love. The Pharisees' problem is not that they are too righteous; it is that they do not know how sinful they are.

Paul's proclamation, "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures," grounds this personally. Christ's death is not a theory; it is a payment for a real debt. The more clearly we see our debt, the more deeply we love the one who paid it.

"Your faith has made you safe. Go in peace." Faith, not her tears or her perfume, is what saves her. The extravagant love was not the cause of her forgiveness but the result of it.

Living It

How aware are you of your own forgiveness? If your love for God feels small, it may be because you have underestimated your debt. Spend time today recognizing what God has forgiven in you, not to wallow in shame but to ignite gratitude that fuels deeper love.

Be the sinful woman, not Simon. Approach Jesus with extravagant, messy, emotional love rather than cool, controlled correctness. God prefers tears to propriety, and a broken heart offered without reservation is worth more than a perfectly composed prayer recited without feeling.

Forgive someone today and notice what happens inside you. Forgiveness received produces love given, and love given opens the door to more forgiveness. The cycle is self-reinforcing, and the only way to enter it is to begin.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, we come to you like the woman at Simon's table, carrying the perfume of our broken hearts. Our sins are many, but your forgiveness is greater. Forgive us, and fill us with the extravagant love that flows from knowing how much we have been forgiven. Help us love much, because we have been forgiven much. Amen.

Today's reflection draws from Luke 7:36-50 and 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 (CPDV), per the Ordo Lectionum Missae.