Pope Francis has touched a lot of
hearts in the short time since he became pope.
Not only has he made a positive impression in his humility, compassion,
and his heart for social justice, but also in the message that he is bringing
to our world right now in his preaching and his teachings. Recently, at the
Vatican, Pope Francis met with some children and youth who are students at Jesuit schools from Italy
and Albania. One of the students told
the pope that he sometimes struggled with his faith, and he asked Pope Francis
for encouragement and advice. The pope
compared the journey of faith to a long walk in which one looks at the horizon,
contemplating about where he wants to go.
On a long walk, there is fatigue, periods of darkness and frustration, stormy
weather, and times of falling down. But,
all the time, one is not afraid of falling or of failure, because it is all
part of the journey. What is important
is getting up when one has stumbled or fallen down. One gets up, shakes the dust off his shoes,
and moves on. Walking alone is
difficult. It is important to walk with
a community of friends, with those who love us and help us and encourage us on
the journey. Walking is not something
that is always straight-forward – it is somewhat of an art form. And our journey of faith is the same.
We see in the sinful woman in today’s Gospel
story someone who has struggled in her faith, someone who has fallen a lot in
her journey and who has seen a lot of stormy weather. Yet, in the midst of her difficult journey,
she comes with humility and selflessness to Jesus. She knows that she has sinned. She knows that she cannot do it alone anymore. She comes to Jesus, falling at his feet,
wiping his feet with her tears, and anointing them with a precious ointment.
Anointings were special rituals in Ancient
Israel and throughout the Ancient World.
Priests, prophets, and kings, along with objects in the Temple in
Jerusalem, were anointed. A prophet or
someone appointed by a prophet carried out the anointing ritual. Olive oil was used in the anointing; it was
usually poured onto the head, followed by a ritual washing with water. A person was anointed in order to prepare him
for sacred service or to get him ready to enter a sacred space.
Yet, look at how different the
anointing of Jesus in today’s Gospel is compared to the typical anointing
in the ancient world. The sinful woman
performed the anointing of Jesus, not a prophet or a dignitary in the
community. This anointing was not done
in a place with spiritual or political significance, but rather at a humble
home where Jesus was sharing a meal. In
fact, the sinful woman wasn’t even invited to the meal; she barges into this
place to anoint Jesus where she isn’t even welcome. In Ancient Israel, feet got so filthy from
the dirty streets, so feet were often washed by the lowliest servant when a
guest entered a home. Jesus - in having
his feet anointed rather his head - this would have been very unusual in the
ancient world.
There is a strong message of social
justice that accompanies the anointing of Jesus’ feet by the sinful woman with
the expensive ointment and her tears. While
others would have resented this action or would have been embarrassed by it,
Jesus honors this act of love and charity by telling the sinful woman that her
sins are forgiven.
So often in the Gospel we have two
contrasts that we can follow in our own lives.
We can be like the sinful woman, aware of our flaws and weaknesses, but
none-the-less wanting to repent for our sins.
We can be like her in reaching out to others in need and in performing
works of charity, in embodying an active faith in works of love, compassion,
and mercy. We can come to Jesus like the
sinful woman – coming to him out of our humility, our graciousness, and our
kindness.
Or we can be like the Pharisee, quick
to judge and thinking we are better than others. We can come thinking about ourselves, certain
that we have all the answers, arrogant in our pride, our confidence, and our
righteousness. We can follow all of
God’s laws to the smallest detail, but lack charity and mercy.
Pope Francis exhorted the students in
his audience: Hold onto hope. Do not let yourselves be robbed of hope. The spirit of our secular world – the lure of
riches, vanity, pride – all of this deprives us of hope. We can find hope in the poor, in how Jesus
lowered himself to serve others and to sow hope where there was none. And we sow hope not just as an abstract
concept, but in the poor child we greet with a smile, in the sick person in the
hospital we visit, and in the unjust social structures we try to correct.
Jesus gave hope and encouragement to
the sinful woman in today’s Gospel. What
can we do to bring that same sense of hope and encouragement to our world?
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