2nd Friday of Lent (March 21). DO YOU SEE THIS WOMAN?

Prepare to Listen.  Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me!
 
Prayerfully Read Luke 7:36-50
36One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table.  37And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment.  38She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair.  Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment.  39Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.’  40Jesus spoke up and said to him, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ ‘Teacher,’ he replied, ‘speak.’  41‘A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.  42When they could not pay, he cancelled the debts for both of them.  Now which of them will love him more?’  43Simon answered, ‘I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the greater debt.’  And Jesus said to him, ‘You have judged rightly.’  44Then turning towards the woman, he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman?  I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.  45You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet.  46You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.  47Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love.  But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.’  48Then he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’  49But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’  50And he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’
 
Prayerfully Wonder and Reflect
If you were to paint this story, what scene would you pick and what would be the focal point of your painting?

A prostitute gate-crashed the Pharisee’s meal.  Her outrageous behavior would ruin his reputation.  She was weeping, more like wailing, disrupting the men’s conversation.  She washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, anointed them with her perfume.  And Jesus let her do it.  Perhaps the men at the table would accuse Jesus of practicing ‘toxic’ compassion.  It certainly was toxic for them.  Compassion for this sinner ruined their meal, disrupted their rigid beliefs, upset their apple cart.
 
Simon concluded Jesus wasn’t a true prophet. Jesus responded with a parable intended to help Simon see himself, his true self.  Then Jesus turned, and looking at the woman, spoke to Simon: Do you see this woman?  He didn’t.  He only saw a stereotype, her reputation, the disaster she’d caused at his meal.  He didn’t see her, her desires and longing for healing.  He showed no compassion, gave no offer of forgiveness.
 
Jesus saw her.  He recognized her desire for healing, honored her touch, her emotion, the gift of her kisses.  He knew her story, her struggle to survive that forced her into prostitution.  His compassion was all for her, toxic to the religious elite, but healing for her.  He said, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’  When the crowd protested, Jesus ignored them, saying to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’
 
Do you see this woman, and the others like her?  Do you see beyond the outward appearance to see her as she is?  “If not, what do you see between you and whoever it is you don’t see?”[1]
 
Prayerfully Respond
Lord, forgive me when I see what I want to see and not the true person.  Train my eyes to see truly and show the compassion that you always show to me.  Amen.
 
Live obediently.  Work at truly seeing people today; listen to their story; hear their longings.
[1] Ó Tuama, Pádraig.  In the Shelter.  London, UK: Hodder and Stoughton Ltd.  2015, p. 222.