Two Scenes

Picture, if you will, two scenes.

In the first, Jesus is invited to the home of a Pharisee, where a notorious sinner cries on his feet in repentence, wipes them with her hair, and anoints them with oil. The Pharisee says to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner."

In the second, a worshiper is at Mass and notices that the young woman in front of her is wearing skimpy clothing. Snide comments cross her mind, and she wonders why the priest doesn't do something about the way people dress for Mass.

In the first scene, I bet most people see the sinner as representing us. We are sinners, we can't deny it; and we want to repent as wholeheartedly as this woman. We love Jesus, and we know that the Pharisee is wrong to judge Jesus for loving this sinner.

But if you see yourself as the worshiper in the second scene then maybe, like me, you've been casting yourself as the wrong character in the first scene.