I’ve been meditating most of the morning on the Gospel reading for today from the Gospel according to Luke (Chapter 7:36-50). In it, we see a very familiar scene where Jesus has gone into the house of Simon the Pharisee to eat with him and his guests. A woman of ill repute comes in and begins to wash Jesus feet with her tears, drying them with her hair. So many things in there to talk about aren’t there? Repentance. Forgiveness. Judgment. I tried to do the Ignatian method of prayer where I put myself into the Biblical scene and thought about what Jesus was trying to teach me.
One of the things that popped into my mind is what would it have been like to touch Jesus’ feet? It was a strange thought for me. My mind began to wander back to the time when my daughter was an infant. I remember holding her and playing with her. You know those moments where your baby is laughing and you are giggling, and life just seems wonderful? Pure joy. I also remember her tiny toes. I always wanted to tickle them and play with them, they were perfect. Perfect little toes. Even that dirty little, worthless pinky toe on the side. What did we do? We would clean them and then pretend to gobble them up as the baby laughs and coos with joy.
At that moment I felt God say to me: “That’s how I feel about you. That’s how I want you to feel about others.” The beauty of that thought flooded me with something so strong I had to get up immediately and write this blog. Why? Most of our life we are like Simon. We see the pinky toe (the sinner) and we wonder how people can associate with them. We all have people we label as them, the other, or they. Someone who scares us or lives in an inappropriate way. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not excusing sin. God wants to clean us up. Even in our dirt, he looks at us with joy, knowing he would do anything to keep us safe, to give us the life we were made for. He wants us to in turn look at each other the same way. To see with His eyes.
So to all of you out there who know me, who read my blog, grew up with me, or in any way have been affected by me in your life: I am sorry. I am sorry if I have ever failed to wash you with tears of God’s love by keeping your dignity intact. I am sorry if I have ever failed to dry the floods of this world as they try to strip you of the respect you deserve as a child of God. I am sorry if I have ever looked on in judgment without first stopping to see you like the beautiful child of God you are, laughing and cooing in the lap of our eternal Father. May we all realize the beauty of how God views each and every one of us, even the lowly and useless pinkies like myself.
A reflection on the readings for September 19th, 2019: Thursday of the 24th Week in Ordinary Time