Ember Friday September

 

The reading of the holy Gospel according to St. Luke

Homily of St. Gregory, Pope

Whom does the Pharisee, presuming concerning his false sense of justice, exemplify but the Jewish nation? Whom does the sinful woman, coming and weeping at the feet of our Lord, represent but the converted Gentiles? She came with an alabaster box, poured out the ointment, stood behind at the feet of the Lord washed His feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, did not cease to kiss those feet which she had anointed and washed. And so that woman represents us, if with our whole heart we return to our Lord after sinning, if we imitate her penitent grief. For what is expressed by the ointment except the odor of good repute? Wherefore Paul declares: "We are the 'good odor of Christ in every place." 

If then we perform righteous acts by which we fill the Church with the odor of good fame, what do we pour on the body of our Lord but ointment? And the woman stood behind at the of Jesus; for we stood against our Lord's feet when, given to sin, we resisted Him in His ways. But if after gin we are con. verted to honest repentance, we too "stand behind at his root," because we follow the path of Him against whom we had fighting. The woman washes His feet with her tears; this we also truly do if we are inclined to every least member Of the Lord through a sense of compassion; if we sympathize with His saints in their suffering; if we consider their sorrow as our own.

We dry the feet of the Lord with our hair, when from those things that are superfluous to us we minister to His saints; whom we compassionate out of charity, in so far as our mind so grieves through compassion that it even displays the feeling of our sorrow by our generous gift. For he truly washes the feet of the Redeemer, but does not dry them with his hair, who, although he is compassionate in his neighbors' pain', nevertheless does not show mercy to them with those things that are superfluous to him. He weeps and does not dry them, who indeed offers words of sorrow, but does not in the least relieve the force of pain by ministering the things that are lacking. The woman kisses the feet which she dries; this we also perform if we constantly love those whom we sustain out of charity lest our neighbor's need become burdensome to us; or lest his very want which is relieved be irksome to us; and though our hands bestow what is necessary, our soul weakens in its love.