Whenever I hear the Gospel from Luke 7, about the sinful woman (seeming a prostitute) washing Jesus’ feet with her tears and her hair, I’m reminded of Pope St. Gregory the Great’s beautiful commentary:
It is very evident, my brethren, that this woman, formerly addicted to forbidden deeds, had used perfume to give her flesh a pleasant odor. What she had shamefully granted to herself, she now offered to God in a manner worthy of praise. She had desired the things of the earth by her eyes, but now mortifying them with penance, she was crying. She had emphasized the beauty of her hair to adorn her face, but she was now using it to wipe away her tears. Her mouth had uttered words of pride, but now, kissing the feet of the Lord, she was staring at that mouth in the footsteps of her Redeemer. Thus, all that she had in it of attractions to charm, she found there material to sacrifice. She turned her crimes into so many virtues, that all that in her had despised God in sin was put to the service of God in penance.
In the aftermath of certain types of sins, we can be tempted to close off parts of ourselves: for instance, you sin sexually, and you start to think that your masculinity/femininity (or your body more broadly) is evil. But that’s not what Christianity teaches. We need to remember that sin is a perversion of something good, and our hatred of sin shouldn’t lead us into a hatred of the underlying good, and that God doesn’t just want to heal you when you fall, He wants to heal you where you fall. So invite Him into those parts of your life that you hate, or fear, or run from!
Of course, there’s more to say on the matter, so please feel free to read my latest for Catholic Answers….
Thank you for writing this Joe – it is very meaningful. In a way I found it also tied in to Ignatian spirituality and the idea of replacing our vices with a counteracting virtue. But the idea of letting God in to not just heal our brokenness but recover the intended beauty is beautiful.
what a beautiful way to look at this episode