For us to better understand what was going on in the Gospel story, it is important for us to look at the various interesting characters or personalities. We were told in the Gospel that Jesus was invited by Simon, a Pharisee, to dine. One would probably ask, a Pharisee inviting Jesus to dine at his house? Weren’t the Pharisees considered to be enemies of Jesus, often criticizing and condemning him publicly? Biblical scholars give three possibilities why Simon invited Jesus to his home. First, he was probably a sympathizer of Christ or that he supported the teachings of Jesus since not all Pharisees were against Christ, but the details and a particular comment from Simon himself in the Gospel would tell us that this is unlikely: “If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.” The second possibility is that Simon might have invited Jesus to trap him with a deliberate intention to entice him to say something that is totally against the law of Moses, thus finding sufficient basis to charge him with a crime. But this possibility is also quite unlikely since he addressed Jesus as Rabbi, giving us a cue that there is some sort of respect to Christ as a teacher. The third possibility is that Simon must have been a collector of celebrities and, using the exact words of a biblical scholar, “with a half patronizing contempt, he had invited this startling young Galilean, Jesus, to have a meal with him. That would best describe the strange combination of a certain respect with the omission of the usual courtesies. Simon was a man who tried to patronize Jesus.” That’s Simon.
Then we have the woman. The scriptures are quite direct in giving us the description of this woman – she is a “bad” woman, notoriously bad, meaning she had a very negative fame among fellow Jews; in other biblical translations, she is described as a prostitute. We were told that she brought alabaster oil which, in the other versions of this story as found in Matthew, John and Mark, was described as quite expensive. Jewish women during the time of Jesus always wore around their neck a little phial of concentrated perfume called alabasters, which were quite costly. We were also told that she poured her perfume on the feet of Jesus and dried his feet with her hair. This short description is really important. For a Jewish woman to appear with her hair unbound was an act of grave immodesty. On her wedding day, a girl bound up her hair and never would appear with it unbound again, especially in public. The fact that this woman loosed her long hair in public showed how she had forgotten everyone except Jesus.
The story progresses with Jesus explaining that the sinful woman received him with greater respect than the host, Simon. Jesus asked: “Do you see this woman? When I
entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment.” What was that all about? When a guest entered a house, three things were always done. The host placed his hand on the guest’s shoulder and gave him the kiss of peace. That was a mark of respect, which was never omitted in the case of a distinguished guest, especially a Rabbi. The roads were dust tracks, and shoes were merely soles held in place by straps across the foot, so cool water was always poured over the guest’s feet to cleanse and comfort them. Either a pinch of sweet-smelling incense was burned or a drop of an attar rose was placed on the guest’s head. These are good manners demanded in usual Jewish gatherings, but none were given to Christ.
Now we have a better understanding of the characters of the story, and what truly transpired. The important question is: so what? What do those details have to say about my life, with my relationship with God and with other people? By looking at the characters of the story, one might be able to identity with one or both of the characters. We have Simon, who is really auto sufficient — he saw himself as very good man in the sight of others and with God…so full of himself that it was very easy for him to judge the woman and easy for him to judge the attitude of Christ towards the woman. One of the pitfalls of people who are utterly religious, like Simon, is spiritual pride or the holier than thou attitude. St. John of the Cross, one of the Catholic spiritual giants sums it up so well — he said, “Some souls suffer from another kind of spiritual anger. They watch over others with a kind of restless fervor, perpetually annoyed by the transgressions they perceive. The impulse arises to reprove the other souls in an angry way. Sometimes they even indulge this nasty urge, elevating themselves as masters of virtue. This is all quite contrary to spiritual meekness." What we see in here is that God’s justice is so
different from ours. On a purely human level, one would probably ask, what about the sin of this woman? Just like in the first reading, what about the sin of David? Where is God’s justice here? Well, both of them asked for forgiveness, and it was given to them. As for justice, they had to deal with it with God and with the system of laws present. It must have been liberating for this woman to be forgiven and to receive anew God’s mercy. It is probably easy to relate and see ourselves in the person of Simon or in the person of the sinful woman but, ultimately, we are also called to be like Christ in the Gospel today, as dispensers of mercy, as instruments of forgiveness and healing. We might be Simon or the sinful woman right now, but let us work together to become like Christ. Who are you in the story today? – Fr. Cary