18 September 2025 –
Thursday of the 24th week in Ordinary Time
H O M I L Y
At the heart of this story is Jesus' teaching on divine mercy, human gratitude and the link between the two.
Two people owed money to a moneylender. In the original text, the debt was counted in denarii. One denarius was the wage for a day's work. One of the two debtors therefore owed the equivalent of 500 days' work; the other owed the equivalent of 50. As neither of them had the means to pay, the creditor forgave each of them their debt.
One could, of course, reflect here on the debt of developing countries, which are unable to pay it, to rich countries, which have already recovered it several times over in the form of interest; but that is not the point at issue here. The point of the story is found in Jesus' question: ‘Which of the two will love him more?’
God loves us. And the degree of his love for us is manifested in the extent of his mercy towards us and therefore, indirectly, in the extent of our sin. We are all sinners. We are all constantly forgiven by God. And the more we experience being forgiven sinners, the more we can grow in love for the One who is so generous in his merciful love towards us.
One of our constant problems in community life, in social life in general, and undoubtedly also in married life, is that we cannot read the hearts of others – even when we think we can. We judge people by what we see, and we are often mistaken in our judgements. We see the blemishes on the surface of the skin and we do not see the beauty of the heart. Of course, if we could read everything in the hearts of others, we probably could not bear it. And besides, most likely, we would not want everyone around us to be able to constantly read everything that is going on in our own hearts!
The story of the Pharisee and the sinner is a good illustration of all this. Luke is always a very good writer. Here, he places the parable we have just discussed at the heart of another story, that of Jesus' reception at the home of Simon the Pharisee. A Pharisee had invited Jesus to eat at his house, which is a sign of appreciation. But his friendship was probably not very deep, because he omitted a number of gestures required by the contemporary rules of etiquette. He should have embraced his guest when he arrived and washed his feet. He did neither.
Furthermore, a woman known in the city as a sinner, having learned that Jesus was at Simon's house, came and began to kiss his feet, wash them with her tears and wipe them with her hair. This was an outpouring of affection that even in the society of the time, everyone would have considered inappropriate in public. So this Pharisee, who judged only by the woman's outward behaviour, unable to read her heart, drew a conclusion about Jesus' talents as a prophet. If this guy was really a prophet, he would know what kind of woman was touching him.
But Jesus reads hearts. Both Simon's and the woman's. And it is to enlighten Simon's judgement that he tells him this parable of the two debtors and asks, in conclusion, the famous question: ‘Which of the two will love him more?’ He then reveals what is in the woman's heart by comparing her to the Pharisee: "I entered your house, and you did not pour water on my feet; she, however, has wet them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not kiss me; she, however, has not stopped kissing my feet since she entered. You did not pour perfume on my head; she poured precious perfume on my feet..." And what is the obvious conclusion of all this? ...
Here the original Greek text can be understood in two ways: Either we can translate it, as in the lectionary we have just read: ‘her sins have been forgiven because of her great love’; but it can also be translated in another way, more consistent with the dynamics of the story and its conclusion: ‘if she loves so much, it is because her many sins have been forgiven’. Jesus thus reveals that the woman—whom the Pharisee and undoubtedly all those present considered a sinner—had already been forgiven before entering the dining room and that she had come to express her love because she had been forgiven.
This teaches us at least three things. First, the more we have had to be forgiven, the more we must love; Secondly, not being aware of our own need for forgiveness is the best way to be harsh and severe towards our brothers and sisters. Thirdly, even if we sometimes need to have the courage to judge certain attitudes and behaviors, we can never judge the person, because we do not know what is in their heart. Only God knows that. He also knows ours.
Armand VEILLEUX