Simon, a Pharisee and rich 'notable' of the city, holds a banquet in his house in honour of Jesus. Unexpectedly from the back of the room enters a guest who was neither invited nor expected: a notorious prostitute. The unease of those present is understandable, but the woman does not seem to mind. She advances and, rather furtively, stops at the feet of Jesus. His words of forgiveness and hope for all, even the prostitutes, have reached her ear; she is moved and stands there silently. She bathes Jesus' feet with her tears, dries them with her hair, kisses them and anoints them with a sweet perfume. In doing so, the sinner wants to express her affection and gratitude towards the Lord with gestures that are familiar to her, even if socially censured.
Faced with general embarrassment, it is Jesus himself who addresses the situation: 'Simon, I have something to tell you'. "Go ahead, Master," the landlord replies to him. We are all familiar with Jesus' response in a parable that could be summed up in the following words that the Lord basically says to Simon: 'See? This woman knows she is a sinner and, moved by love, she asks for understanding and forgiveness. You, on the other hand, presume to be righteous and are perhaps convinced that you have nothing serious to be forgiven'.
The message from the Gospel passage is eloquent: to those who love much, God forgives all things. He who trusts in himself and his own merits is as if blinded by his ego and his heart hardens in sin. Instead, he who recognises himself as weak and a sinner entrusts himself to God and from Him obtains grace and forgiveness.
[Pope Benedict, Audience to the participants in the course of the Apostolic Penitentiary, 7 March 2008]
