18 September
September 18th, 2010
Luke 7 : 36 – 50
Today we meet with two of Luke’s favourite themes – God’s forgiveness of the sinner and the importance of women in the story of Jesus.
We now look at the meeting between Jesus and the sinful woman. Jesus would have been expected to show his disapproval of her actions, but he knew she was a woman craving for understanding. As Jean Vanier once wrote: “The person in misery does not need a look that judges and criticises, but a comforting presence that brings peace, hope and life.”
The woman with the bad name who had been called upon so often for the satisfaction of others now found herself called upon for her own sake and for her own salvation. Never before had she been called upon with such love. Apart from Mary’s Magnificat, nowhere in the Gospel do we see a response so full of gratitude. In this beautiful scene – the anointing of the feet – we get a glimpse of human deliverance from sin totally forgiven. Conversion of heart is really at the core of the Gospel. Simon, the Pharisee, who had invited Jesus, hadn’t even one kind thought for the woman. He hadn’t understood the first thing about compassion and mercy. The Pharisees saw themselves as paragons of virtue, but what is the value of a virtuous life if it is a life without mercy and love? Jesus had not come to judge sinners, but to befriend them and help them to change their lives.
Prayer
Prayer : Lord, thank you so much for the grace of forgiveness and the blessing of reconciliation. Amen.
The prayer for each day has been prepared by various members of the Holy Family Association. All who visit our website are remembered in prayer. If you would like us to pray for a particular need, simply complete and submit the form on the right hand side of this page. You may wish to leave a comment in the space below.
Just a Thought
How the Holy Family prayer: A Reflection by Pope Benedict XVI
“I would like to invite you to reflect on the place of prayer in the life of the Holy Family of Nazareth. The home of Nazareth, in fact, is a school of prayer where we learn to listen, to ponder and to penetrate the profound meaning of the manifestation of the Son of God, drawing our example from Mary, Joseph and Jesus.
Pope Paul VI during his visit to Nazareth said “we come to understand the need for a spiritual discipline, if we wish to follow the teaching of the Gospel and become disciples of Christ.” And he added: “First, it teaches us silence. Oh! That there would be reborn in us the esteem for silence, that wonderful and indispensable atmosphere of the spirit: while we are deafened by so many noises, sounds and clamorous voices in the frantic and tumultuous times of modern life. Oh! Silence of Nazareth, teach us to be resolute in good thoughts, intent upon the interior life, ready to listen well to the secret inspirations of God and the exhortations of the true masters.”
We can glean several insights on the Holy Family’s prayer and relationship with God from the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ childhood. We may begin with the Presentation of Jesus in the temple. St. Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph, “when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, brought the child up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord”(2:22). Like every observant Jewish family, Jesus’ parents go up to the temple to consecrate the firstborn son to God and to offer sacrifice. Moved by fidelity to the law’s prescriptions, they set off from Bethlehem and go up to Jerusalem with Jesus, who is now forty days old. Instead of a one-year-old lamb, they present the offering of simple families; that is two young pigeons. The Holy Family’s pilgrimage is one of faith, of the offering of gifts, a symbol of prayer, and of encounter with the Lord, whom Mary and Joseph already see in the son Jesus.”
