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A
Pharisee invited [Jesus] to dine with him, and he entered the
Pharisee's house and reclined at table. Now there was a sinful woman in
the city who learned that he was at table in the house of the Pharisee.
Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment, she stood behind him at his
feet weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears. Then she wiped
them with her hair, kissed them and anointed them with the
ointment. When
the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this he said to himself,
“If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of
woman this is who is touching him, that she is a
sinner.” Jesus said to him in reply ... “Do you see
this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give me water
for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with
her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but she has not ceased
kissing my feet since the time I entered. You did not anoint my
head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment. So I tell you,
her many sins have been forgiven; hence she has shown great
love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves
little.” He said to her, “Your sins are
forgiven.”
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| Gospelthink: Jesus forgave the repentant sinner while at the same time admonishing someone who had insulted him. Do I forgive others the way I should? | ||||||
“Did a full one eighty, crazy, thinking about the way I was. Did the heartbreak change me? Maybe,
but look at where I ended up. I'm all good already, so moved on. It's scary: I'm
not where you left me at all. So if you don't wanna see me dancing with
somebody, if you wanna believe that anything could stop me, don't show up, don't
come out, don't start caring about me now.”
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What
do you do when you realize that there have been mistakes in the past,
and now you want to make up for them? The lady that Luke the evangelist
describes as a "sinful woman" in his Gospel probably did not know where
to start. She had a problem, but did not know what to do. But she made
the decision to spend some time with a person that she recognized to be
holy, hoping that her action would be the answer to her problem. She
discovered with Jesus' help that there was a good ending to her
situation.
In the song "Don't Start Now" by Dua Lipa, the lady in the relationship understood that she needed to break up with her fiance for some reason. Her problem then became whether she should try to repair the relationship. She knew that the man would want that, but she knew that that would not be good. So, she made a decision to move on, and she tells the man that she could feel good about her problem now that she had made the decision. "'If you wanna believe that anything could stop me, don't start caring about me now' because I have discovered a good ending and you can see it by the way I am living." She is good, she says, because she moved on. These popular songs that make up the genre of popular music reflect that breakups are among the most difficult moments in a person's life. For some reason, the two in the relationship feel that they must move on. Then the problem begins, because there is always "second guessing" especially if one of the parties is persistent in wanting to get back together. But if both are convinced that the breakup should happen, then both of them must move on. If both of them discover that there are good endings to their lives if they follow through, then it could make the breakup much easier. Just as the lady who anointed the Lord found a good ending to her problem, the person who has to choose a breakup should be able to see that there is a good ending to the breakup. And be able then to move on in life. |
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| PRAYER Good
and
gracious God, sometimes in my life, I will have to make decisions
concerning the people with whom I will spend the rest of my life. At
times it means that I must breakup a relationship for one reason or
another. Help me make my decision easier by seeing that there will be a
good ending to the breakup. Be with us,
we pray.
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+++++
GUIDE
FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT
Theme: There are good endings to problems, even romantic breakups. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. What does the song "Don't Start Now" teach young people? 2. Jesus accepted invitations to dine not only with the poor, but with the well-to-do as well. What does this teach us about Jesus' attitude of living? What can we learn from it? 3. The sinful woman shows courage in the embarrassment of anointing Jesus in front of the others at table. In today's world, where do we see the most "courage" in doing something good? 4. The woman is expressing sorrow for her sins by her actions. What are the best ways to express sorrow for past offenses? 5. What is the best way to initiate a breakup with the person that you have been seeing? 6. What is the best way to make a judgment to break off a relationship? 7. What is the best way to help a person who is suffering because of a breakup? |
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©2007
Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America |
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