Fr. Michael Williams

St Luke provides us with a contrast today. The woman ‘who had a bad name in the town’ and the respectable Pharisee called Simon.

Some people have speculated that this woman was a reformed prostitute. Whatever she was, she knew that she needed the Lord’s forgiveness to renew her life. She knew she needed the Lord, and that is why she went to Him. She is bold and unashamed in reaching out to the Lord.

This woman teaches us the fundamental truth of our Faith, namely that we are called to go the Lord’s feet and be renewed. We are called to turn away from sin and turn to God and to goodness. The Lord always welcomes us when we turn to Him with humility and trust. Whenever we go humbly to the Sacraments we encounter the Lord who welcomes us so as to renew us.

All of us are in need of the Lord’s forgiveness and healing grace in various ways. Some of the great Biblical figures we heard about today, like King David from the Old Testament, or St Paul from the New Testament, all learnt that they needed the Lord’s forgiveness and His healing grace. They learnt the lesson that they must stop being independent and start depending on the Lord. And then they did great things for the Lord.

Every day in various ways the Lord is giving us a lesson in which He wants us to learn that we are totally dependent on His love, His mercy, His forgiveness. The woman in the gospel heeds the lesson and comes to realise her dependence on Christ. And so her faith in the Lord saves her, and her life is transformed. If this woman is Mary Magdalene as some people say, then she went on to become a great and faithful disciple of the Lord.

Thinking of the terrible tragedy in Cumbria recently. One thing has struck me that in the face of this evil act, people have been turning to God for strength and support, through various memorial services and Masses. In the face of tragedy, whether personal or communal, we can turn to the Lord for His grace and strength. Without it we would have no hope and would be doomed. The woman in the gospel, King David and St Paul turned to the Lord in their distress and he brought them out of darkness into His own wonderful light.

Let’s pray for the grace to adopt the attitude of the woman in the gospel, rather than the Pharisee.