as St Paul said, if you do anything without love what are we really?

My first insinct is to reduce this to greater awareness of sin leads to greater gratitude for sins forgiven. That’s gnosticism. But this is Jesus once again ensuring that the last are first. Have you got a past you can’t get past? Then you’re in a better position than someone without one.

Who knows what sorrows and insults this lady had endured?  Perhaps she had to steel herself to go in to the gathering at the Pharisee’s house, but Jesus, glancing up, smiled at her!  Her courage was rewarded!  Welling up inside from a kaleidoscope of repentance, gratitude, joy and love, her tears wash over Jesus’ feet.  How blessed is she that her pride is so long gone that she sees no abasement in kneeling to kiss her saviour’s feet and dry them with her hair!  She pours her most precious ointment over Jesus’ feet.  How blessed to hear Jesus say “Thy faith hath saved thee: go in peace.”

Actions speak louder than words, as the saying goes, and how true. When we acknowledge God’s love for us, we must love others. How we do that is what we have to decide.

The woman does not show great love to Jesus because of what she can receive from him.  In the same way we should not respond to God’s great love for us either because of what we can receive from him. We should not be asking what God can give to us or do for us, but what we can give to or do for God.  & that is a real challenge to us !

It just occured to me that considering this challenge involves the whole diocese there are relatively few comments. These comments are not just great for our own reflections but let’s bear in mind they may help someone else to know they are not alone in the way they are feeling. Let’s encouraage each other in the faith! Get involved!

I can really relate to you here Julie. I also struggle to explain to my children and sometimes the ease with which they say a quick and seemingly unrepentant ‘sorry mum’ irritates me especially when it seems to be the same offence that is repeated.
But one day I realized it’s good they do care enough to say sorry. Our church has a confession section in the service and it became clear to me one week that I’m not different from the kids in that it’s the same sins I struggle with weekly but that in the moment of confession I do feel truly repentant. The spirit is willing, the flesh is so weak!

One of the biggest constraints in our loving, is truly accepting that we have been forgiven. Love is about self giving; to love a lot requires a lot of giving. When we fail to accept God’s forgiving grace in our lives we continue to carry around a burden of guilt and self loathing that prevents us being able to give freely. We hold back, feeling unworthy or afraid of our secrets being revealed.
God loves us and so forgives us so that we might love. The first act of our love must be to forgive and love ourselves; to do otherwise is to reject God’s grace, peace and love.

I sometimes stuggle to explain to my children why if someone says sorry you should forgive them. Tey see saying sorry as an easy way out, so I have to differentiate with saying the words and feeling true remorse. Remorse is such an overwhelming feeling that to be genuinely forgiven is a huge release. To have all the guilt and shame removed, just as if the sin never took place. Such love to be prepared to offer that forgiveness, such gratitude that we can be loved so much.

For Christians I think it is sometimes hard for us to love as lavishly as the woman in this story did. Most of the time we feel we’re doing okay spiritually and are living fairly respectable Christian lives. It is only when we are faced with just how fallen we are that we can understand just a little more God’s kindness to us in Jesus and can then lavish, in part, that same kindness on others.

Just think, if we had no faults we would not need God’s saving grace, and our relationship with God would be lost because we do not need Him.  If our children were self sufficient from an early age and did not need any parental help - just think of the love which is lost. 

It is through our faults that we find our need for God’s help and though this we can discover God’s love for us.

We can all do with some of this woman’s humility and repentance. We have all sinned and fallen short in one way or another so our love ought to overflow in His service as this woman’s did.
There is also a lesson about hospitality here. Jesus had earlier pointed out the things his host had not done.
These verses are really great.  It gives room for deeper reflection, meditation , prayer and action than perhaps when we read a longer passage in one go. We’ve all heard these verses before but it’s amazing how challenging and relevant they are day by day in this lent challenge.