Deacon Larry

September 17, 2009

Thursday of the 24th Week in Ordinary Time

1 Tim 4: 12-16; Lk 7: 36-50

Dc. Larry Brockman

How would you feel if someone barged uninvited into your home while you were having a dinner guest, and upstaged you in front of your honored guest?  And to make matters worse, suppose the intruder was a neighbor who continually made trouble.  Chances are you would be upset.  That’s what happened to this Pharisee and he was upset.  So, why does Jesus take the intruder’s side? 

Now the Pharisee’s invite to Jesus was the in-thing to do.  Jesus was the talk of the town.  Everybody sought after him at that time.  How fortunate was this Pharisee to have his invitation accepted.  But in reality, the Pharisee lacks sincerity.   It was, after all, the message that Jesus preached that made him popular, and that should have been the substance of his meeting with Jesus.  But the Pharisee does not even seem to be aware of the message that Jesus was teaching.  Indeed Jesus scolds the Pharisee for not providing some of the customary honors due an important guest- no water to cool and wash his feet; and no oil to anoint his head.  So, the Pharisee is not displaying that he is honored by Jesus acceptance.  Rather, it is as if he feels that it is an honor for Jesus to be in his presence.  On the contrary, the sinful woman lavishes honor on Jesus and displays true humility.  She bathes Jesus with her tears, and anoints him with a fine perfume.  This woman was repenting- she had taken to heart her own inadequacies.  She was responding to the message that Jesus had proclaimed, and she was determined to lay it all out in sincerity to Jesus.  The Pharisee does not even seem aware of his sin or the need to repent.  Rather the Pharisee was preoccupied with his own importance, and not the opportunity to internalize Jesus message first hand.

How about you and I?  Are we here to honor Jesus and to repent of our sinful tendencies?  Or are we deluding ourselves by thinking that our presence sets us apart from our sinful neighbor?  Jesus is looking for our burdens, our sin, and our repentance.  He is not looking for a list of our perceived strengths.  Our challenge is always and everywhere to strive to be like him.  Or, as Paul put it in Timothy:  “Let no one have contempt for youth, but set an example for those who believe, in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity.” 

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