Jesus loved imperfect people, and imperfect people loved him. The readings for Mass today are about two very great sinners, a man and a woman. At least here, we are all on equal footing. Our sins are often very different from one another, but who is to say which is the greater? Saint Paul talked about his own past in today’s first reading for mass. But, the sinful woman with the costly ointment in the gospel today, didn’t talk at all. She anointed the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her tears.
We have different ways of demonstrating our repentance, and different ways of expressing love, and no one way is necessarily better than the others. In fact there are five ways that human beings show love: physical touch, words of affirmation, gifts, quality time and acts of service. Saint Paul and the sinful woman demonstrated all five ways of expressing love in today’s readings for Mass.
People often feel like another person doesn’t really love them, when in fact, it may be that the other person’s way of expressing love, is not the same way that they need to feel that they are loved. A man might hug and kiss his wife a lot and bring her flowers or a piece of jewelry, for an example, when what the wife really needs is for him to spend more time with her and talk to her more.
Jesus has no such qualms about that. He loves us all the time, even when we neglect him. We are the ones who alienate ourselves from him, by our actions. We don’t spend quality time, in prayer, attending an extra Mass, or visit him for an hour in the adoration chapel or before the tabernacle, for an example. Perhaps we neglect to serve him, by being of service to others that we are not paid to do on our jobs.
We also alienate ourselves from Jesus by our sins, both great and small. There are some Catholics who pride themselves on frequenting confession, though, and keeping every little venial sin in check or confessed. They work hard to progress in spiritual perfections, growing in the virtues, and look down on others who fail to do this.
Isn’t it an awesome thing that Jesus doesn’t treat us that way though? Saint Paul and the sinful woman in today’s scriptures demonstrate that our sins isn’t the only thing the Lord Jesus sees when he looks at us. Our love for him is what matters the most. Even with Saint Paul, who used to be Saul, Jesus knew his love for God was just misdirected, due to his own stubborn lack of belief in him. So, Jesus fixed that. He himself overcame this problem in Saul (who was later called Paul) by appearing to him on the road to Damascus.
Jesus demonstrated his point from the gospel today, that those who have sinned the most, love the most after their sins are forgiven, through Saint Paul’s conversion. Jesus saw good in His misdirected zeal and passion for God. Jesus tamed that passion in order to harness it to build his church. He took the great sins Paul was committing against him, and tamed them into the most powerful force for evangelization that the early church ever knew.
You might ask yourself today, what are the worst sins that you have been guilty of during your own life? Has that misdirected effort ever been harnessed in a more positive way, to serve the Lord and other people? For an example, if you had a problem with drugs and alcohol that you eventually overcame, have you ever considered helping other people overcome their own addictions? If you are a former atheist, there are many people who would love to hear your conversion story, especially if they are just going through the motions of the faith they learned as a child.
Jesus has the power to convert the sins that other people have committed against us too, into a much greater good. There is an organization called Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, who have lost children due to an accident involving alcohol. These mothers worked to change the laws about driving under the influence. Ex-offenders who are released from prison, will often tell their stories to other offenders, especially juveniles, to try and help prevent them from going to prison too. And, women who have had an abortion and regret it, work toward changing the laws and attitudes of those who advocate for abortion. They also help other post-abortive women to experience Christ’s mercy, forgiveness and healing, by sharing their own stories.
Jesus can turn any sin or evil in our lives into a much greater good, if we allow him to do so. Not only do sin and evil not have the last say, because Christ died on the cross, but like the cross of Christ, sin and evil can be converted into a much greater force for good in the world, if we remain open to his grace. Saint Paul and the sinful woman in today’s readings for Mass opened themselves up to his grace, mercy and forgiveness and their lives were healed because of it.
Daily Mass Readings:
1 Corinthians 15: 1-11 / Psalm 118 / Luke 7: 36-50
