Window of Mercy

(Readings for the Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time: 2 Samuel 12:7-10, 13; Galatians 2:16, 19-21; Luke 7:36-8:3).

St. Matthew's Parish in East Stroudsburg has a beautiful series of stained-glass windows. One of these windows is what I like to call the "Window of Mercy." This particular window has four panes that depict the greatest images of mercy from the Gospel of Luke: the Good Shepherd, the Good Samaritan, the Good Father of the Prodigal Son, and... the Good Woman of today's Gospel passage.

But how can we consider the woman from today's Gospel to be "good"?! She was a grave sinner, after all. Indeed, this woman's reputation was well-known. Whatever sins she may have committed were publicly known. It would've been quite a scandal, then, when this nameless woman entered the house of Simon the Pharisee in order to wash, dry, and anoint the feet of Jesus! Could such an intimate act of hospitality be performed by such a notorious sinner?

"Anointing His Feet" by Wayne Forte

Yet Jesus does not respond with shock. Jesus does not condemn this woman. Jesus does not fall prey to the judgments that often cloud the human heart. Rather, Jesus welcomes this woman's good, profound gesture of love and repentance. The Good Woman recognized her sins and, more importantly, recognized that in Jesus she could encounter the mercy of God. Jesus reminds Simon, and all of us, that love is the response to forgiveness and mercy: "Her many sins have been forgiven because she has shown great love."

Our Scripture readings today remind us of this incredible reality: God's forgiveness is freely and abundantly available to us. God not only stands at the threshold to welcome us back home, but pursues us and lovingly runs towards us with arms extended. In the first reading from the Old Testament, the prophet Nathan confronts King David. The sin of David (adultery and murder) was indeed grave. All sin leads to death - sin poisons and kills our relationship with God and with others. But through his admission of guilt and repentant heart, God forgave David of his sin. God showed mercy to David.

 David: The Repentant King

In the second reading, from Paul's Letter to the Galatians, we read how the apostle Paul, though once a violent religious extremist, encountered the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. Paul's life was forever changed. Paul gives voice to the experience of conversion, of allowing ourselves to let go of our old ways and embrace Christ as the very center of our being. Only one who has experienced forgiveness and mercy can proclaim, like Paul: "I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me."

Mercy, as Pope Francis has reminded us, is about stepping into the chaos of another's life and leading them towards an encounter with Love. Through mercy, God enters into the chaos and darkness of our own lives - not to condemn or punish - but to forgive and to bring newness of life. This is the tenacity of God's mercy.

"Window of Mercy" at St. Matthew's 

In Jesus, we stand before the great Window of Mercy. Through the life, the ministry, the suffering, death and resurrection of the Christ, we peer into the marvels of God's mercy. Jesus is that Window of Mercy through which the warmth of love, forgiveness, and peace shine forth. Through this Window of Mercy, we can gaze into the dynamics of mercy within the life of God. This same mercy penetrates our own lives.

And so, we have a choice to make. During this Jubilee Year of Mercy, we can either be like Simon the Pharisee, a closed wall that prevents sinners from encountering God; or we can be like Jesus, the light-filled Window of Mercy.