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Gospel: Luke 7: 36-50
A certain Pharisee invited Jesus to dine with him,
and he entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table.
Now there was a sinful woman in the city
who learned that he was at table in the house of the Pharisee.
Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment,
she stood behind him at his feet weeping
and began to bathe his feet with her tears.
Then she wiped them with her hair,
kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment.
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself,
“If this man were a prophet,
he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him,
that she is a sinner.”
Jesus said to him in reply,
“Simon, I have something to say to you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
“Two people were in debt to a certain creditor;
one owed five hundred days’ wages and the other owed fifty.
Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both.
Which of them will love him more?”
Simon said in reply,
“The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven.”
He said to him, “You have judged rightly.”
Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon,
“Do you see this woman?
When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet,
but she has bathed them with her tears
and wiped them with her hair.
You did not give me a kiss,
but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered.
You did not anoint my head with oil,
but she anointed my feet with ointment.
So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven;
hence, she has shown great love.
But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.”
He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
The others at table said to themselves,
“Who is this who even forgives sins?”
But he said to the woman,
“Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Who is this woman? How did she get into Simon the Pharisee’s home? Why did she wash the feet of Jesus? 
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In ancient Palestine, wealthy homeowners built their homes around an open courtyard, often in the form of an empty square. Within the courtyard, there would be a garden and a fountain, evoking the Garden of Eden.
This is where Simon the Pharisee would’ve hosted Jesus.
When rabbis were guests for dinner, neighbors were free to wander into the host’s courtyard to listen to the rabbi’s pearls of wisdom, which is how the “sinful woman” must’ve entered Simon’s home.
Her intention was to pour expensive perfume over the feet of Jesus; foot washing was a customary act of welcome into a person’s home – and by extension, into their heart. But before she could break her bottle open, tears gushed forth from her eyes.
She was a woman who needed God’s forgiveness… and knew it. Likely a prostitute, her identity is revealed by the flowing of her hair.
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It was considered immodest for a woman to wear her hair down in public.
The fact that this woman did not only meant she wasn’t concerned with social customs; it also meant the only person in her sight was Jesus, as if the two of them were alone.
There, weeping on her knees tenderly washing the feet of our Lord, she represents the soul of a humble Christian – any person who recognizes the truth that we’re all beggars before God’s throne.
Simon the Pharisee, on the other hand, receives no forgiveness – not because he doesn’t need it, but because he doesn’t realize he needs it. In his mind, he’s a virtuous gentleman, both before God and man.
Yet he lacked the courtesy to offer Jesus a basic welcome upon entrance into his home.
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So, what might this story mean for us?
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Instead of lobbing judgment at others – as Simon the Pharisee did to this woman – may we see something of her in ourselves, recognizing we’re all in need of God’s mercy. God, in turn, offers that pardon to all who genuinely seek it.
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