Thursday, September 17 – Love and forgiveness are simultaneous.

 

Preparatory Prayer (to put myself in God’s presence)

My God, before beginning this prayer, I want to ask for forgiveness for my sins and infidelities. I have sinned a lot, Lord, but I also want to love You very much. Take this prayer as reparation for my falls. Amen.

Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)

From the holy Gospel according to Luke 7:36-50

At that time, a Pharisee invited Jesus to dine with him. Jesus went to the Pharisee’s house and sat at the table. A woman of ill repute in that city, when she learned that Jesus was going to eat that day at the Pharisee’s house, took a flask of alabaster with perfume, went and stood behind Jesus, began to cry, and with her tears bathed His feet, dried them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with perfume.

Seeing this, the Pharisee who had invited Him began to think: “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him: he would know that she is a sinner.” So he said, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” He replied, “Say it, teacher.” Jesus said, “Two men owed money to a lender. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Since they had no means to pay, he forgave them both. Which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one who was forgiven more.”

Then Jesus said, “You have judged correctly.” Then, pointing to the woman, He said to Simon: “Do you see this woman? I entered your house, and you did not give me water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You did not greet me with a kiss; but she, from the moment she entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil; but she has anointed my feet with perfume. Therefore, I tell you: her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, because she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” Then He said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”

The guests began to wonder among themselves: “Who is this who even forgives sins?” Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Word of the Lord.

 

Reflect on what God tells you in the Gospel (we suggest you read what the Pope said).17

“The Gospel we have heard opens a path of hope and comfort for us. It is good to perceive over us the compassionate gaze of Jesus, just as the sinful woman perceived it in the house of the Pharisee. In this passage, two words recur insistently: love and judgment.

There is the love of the sinful woman who humbles herself before the Lord; but even before that, there is the merciful love of Jesus for her, which urges her to approach. Her tears of repentance and joy wash the Master’s feet, and her hair dries them with gratitude; the kisses are an expression of her pure affection; and the fragrant ointment she pours out abundantly testifies to how valuable He is in her eyes.

Every gesture of this woman speaks of love and expresses her desire to have an indestructible certainty in her life: that she has been forgiven. This is a beautiful certainty! And Jesus gives her this certainty: by welcoming her, He demonstrates God’s love for her, precisely because she is a public sinner. Love and forgiveness are simultaneous: God forgives her much, forgives everything, because “she loved much”; and she worships Jesus because she perceives that in Him there is mercy and no condemnation. She feels that Jesus understands her with love, her, a sinner. Thanks to Jesus, God bears her many sins, and no longer remembers them. Because this is also true: when God forgives, He forgets. God’s forgiveness is great! For her, a new period begins; she is reborn in love for a new life.” (Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis, March 13, 2015).

 

Dialogue with Christ

This is the most important part of your prayer, prepare to talk with much love with the One who loves you.

Purpose

Set a personal goal, what? The one that involves the most love… or, if you believe it is what God asks of you, live what is suggested below.

I will transform my way of judging, so that my point of view is always that of Jesus Christ. Today I will practice: seeing the good in others.

 

“Avoid as a very serious evil judging the actions of others; rather, interpret their words and deeds kindly, seeking with industrious charity reasons to excuse and defend them. And if defense is impossible, because the fault is too evident, try to mitigate it as much as you can, attributing it to inadvertence or surprise, or something similar, according to the circumstances.”

(J. Pecci-León XIII-, Practice of humility, no. 14)