XI-OT. (C) II Sm 12: 7-10, 13; Gal 2:16, 19-21; LK 7: 36-8:

A woman at the airport waiting to catch her flight bought herself a bag of cookies, settled in a chair in the airport lounge and began to read her book. Suddenly she noticed the man beside her, helping himself with cookies from the cookie bag she bought. Not wanting to make a scene, she read on, ate cookies, and watched the clock. As the daring “cookie thief” kept on eating the cookies, she got more irritated and said to herself, “If I wasn’t so nice, I’d blacken his eye!” With each cookie she took, he took one too. When only one was left, she wondered what he would do. Then with a smile on his face and a nervous laugh, he took the last cookie and broke it in half. He offered her half, and he ate the other. She snatched it from him and thought, “Oh brother, this guy has some nerve, and he’s also so rude, why, he didn’t even show any gratitude!” She sighed with relief when her flight was called. She gathered her belongings and headed for the gate, refusing to look at the ungrateful “thief.” She boarded the plane and sank in her seat, then reached in her baggage to fetch her book, and what she saw made her gasp with surprise. For there in front of her eyes was her bag of cookies. Then it dawned on her that the cookies she ate in the lounge was the man’s and not hers, that the man was not a thief but a friend who tried to share, that she was the rude one, the ungrateful one, the thief.

Often it happens that the one pointing the accusing finger turns out to be the guilty one - the complainant sometimes turns out to be the offending party. In the gospel the Pharisee thinks he is the righteous one who is worthy to be in the company of Jesus and that the woman was the sinful one, unworthy to be seen with Jesus. In the end Jesus showed each of them where they really belonged and the woman was seen as the one who was righteous and more deserving the company of Jesus than the self-righteous Pharisee.

The celebrated American, twentieth century evangelist Billy Sunday once said ‘I am against sin. I’ll kick it as long as I’ve got a foot. I’ll fight it as long as I’ve got a fist.’ King David and Simon the Pharisee agreed with this approach. Like many of us, they were against other people’s sin. At Simon’s dinner Jesus tells a story in response to Simon’s scandalized shock that Jesus should offer forgiveness to the penitent woman. The story is about two debtors. Simon sees only one at his table. He failed to see the other, who is himself. Nathan the prophet tells a story to David to uncover the king’s adultery. It is about a rich man who robs a poor man of his prized ewe lamb. Simon and David condemn themselves in the response they make. David confesses his sin as the woman acknowledges hers but Simon’s guests are left questioning: ‘who is this who forgives sins?’ We are not told if they ask for forgiveness for themselves. They do not show faith but it is the woman’s faith, not her dramatic gesture that has saved her.

It is easy to notice the fault of other people while being blind to our own faults. It is easier to hear the other person than it is to hear yourself snoring.  Great men and women of God have been, all without exception, people who are so aware of their own inadequacies that they are hardly surprised at other people’s shortcomings. People who delight in criticizing others betray their lack of self-awareness. In the end they discover that they themselves are indeed the cookie thieves that they accuse others to be.

The problem of the Pharisee was his notion of sin and holiness. For him the woman was an “occasion of sin” to be avoided by godly people. Jesus corrects him: it is not what you avoid that counts, it is what you do. The Pharisee might indeed have avoided occasions of sin, but he did nothing for Jesus’ need or love him. He opened his house for Jesus, but he did not open his heart for him. The woman, on the other hand, attended to the practical needs of Jesus. Jesus accepts the woman’s external show of love as a clear manifestation of inner faith and love. And Jesus concludes the story saying she loved much, so she is forgiven much.  

Simon has been so successful in life that he has come to think he doesn't need God. Sure, he still goes to the synagogue. After all, he is a Pharisee, one of the religious leaders. But he goes to show how upright he is, not to beg for God's grace. Is my coming to church an effort to show how religious I am ? The woman who knew she was a sinner and needed a Savior, is able to see glory of Christ and experience his love.

But Simon is blinded by his arrogance and self-sufficiency, and so he sees nothing special in this rabbi from Nazareth. We often share Simon’s mentality, displaying an attitude of love-less-ness and harshness.   Let us remember that Simon’s self-sufficiency prevented him from acknowledging his need for the grace of God.  

There is Simon in each one of us. It's the part of us that keeps us from asking forgiveness and going to confession.

Today at this Eucharist, when we have Jesus as our guest of honor, let’s us open our hearts to him and pour perfumes of repentance at his feet so that we may be able to leave this house of God, hearing his consoling words, your sins are forgiven, go in peace.