Thursday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Taking Grace for Granted

In the Gospel today, there are two people looking at Jesus very differently. Simon the Pharisee invites Jesus into his home, but he keeps his distance.

And then there is this woman. She comes in, stands behind Jesus weeping, washes his feet with her tears, dries them with her hair, and anoints them with oil.

Simon looks at her and sees a sinner. But Jesus looks at her and sees something Simon doesn’t see: a woman who knows how much she has been forgiven.

And that’s really the heart of this Gospel. Jesus says, “The one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.”

It’s not that Simon had nothing for which he needed forgiveness. The difference is that Simon didn’t recognize how much he needed God’s mercy. The woman did.

And sometimes we see something similar in our own Catholic faith.

You sometimes hear it said that a convert can become one of the strongest Catholics. And maybe part of the reason is that when you have discovered the faith later in life, you can appreciate in a different way what you have found.

Those of us who have been Catholic all our lives can sometimes take for granted what has always been here: the Eucharist, Confession, the Mass, and the grace of the Sacraments.

And I think that connects beautifully with Paul in the first reading. Paul certainly knew what his life had been before Christ. He had persecuted the Church. He even says, “I am the least of the Apostles.”

But then he says something that I think all of us could say:

“By the grace of God I am what I am.”

Paul never forgot where he had been. But he also never forgot what the grace of God had done for him.

And that line has a particular meaning for me today because 43 years ago today I was ordained a priest.

When you look back over 43 years, you realize how much of life really is grace.

There have been so many people, so many experiences, so many blessings along the way that I could never have imagined on the day I was ordained.

And so perhaps today I can say those words of Paul with a little more meaning:

“By the grace of God I am what I am.”

And maybe that’s the invitation for all of us today—not to become so accustomed to God’s gifts that we stop recognizing them as gifts.

Because when we recognize how much God has given us, how patient he has been with us, how often he has forgiven us, and how faithfully he has walked with us, gratitude begins to replace judgment.

And perhaps that is why the words we prayed in the psalm are especially appropriate today:

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.”

After 43 years, I certainly have a lot for which to give thanks.

And I think all of us do.