The What and Why of Where We Are
TEXT:
LUKE 7:36-50 (NLT)
36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. 37 When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 38 Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”
40 Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.”
“Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.
41 Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”
43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”
“That’s right,” Jesus said. 44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.
47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” 48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”
50 And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
A LITANY OF REMEMBRANCE:
Let us remember and give thanks for faithful women of God, that their lives may inspire ours.
For Miriam, prophet who led the women of Israel in rejoicing at their deliverance from Egypt;
For the unnamed woman who acted as prophet and anointed Jesus before his burial;
God of abundant life,
We give you thanks.
That we may claim our gifts of leadership and have courage to announce your truth by our words and actions, God of graceful power,
We offer our prayer.
For women mystics of the Middle Ages: for Hildegard of Bingen, Teresa of Avila, and Julian of Norwich, who used many names and images to praise you and tell of your goodness and love;
God of abundant life,
We give you thanks.
That we may know you more deeply and praise you as one God with many names;
God of graceful power,
We offer our prayer.
For the women of this country who fought against slavery and worked for justice for all people: for Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks; for the women who struggled for women’s rights: for Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony;
God of abundant life,
We give you thanks.
That we may be empowered to strive for justice and peace among all people;
God of graceful power,
We offer our prayer.
Amen.
THIS IS TRUE that women are created women, in the image of God, co-workers with God in caring for life, in struggling for the liberations of humanity and for a world order that respects each one’s dignity.
THIS IS TRUE that all women and men are called to be in solidarity with each other’s struggle for dignity and justice, to learn from one another and to challenge one another as sisters and brothers in critical and prophetic solidarity.
THIS IS TRUE that the whole people of God are called to denounce militarism, to challenge the root causes of poverty in the name of the God of Hagar, who as a refugee was the first person who dared to give God a name.
THIS IS TRUE that Jesus Christ has come into the world to heal the broken community between women and men, to restore our sense of self, dignity and inclusion.
THIS IS TRUE that everyone is called to respond to the gift of life and to the needs of our community with all our heart, all our soul and all our reason.
THIS IS TRUE that Jesus Christ has come into the world to overturn the tables of injustice, that women and men, empowered by the Holy Spirit, should challenge poverty and patriarchal culture.
THIS IS TRUE that God the Creator has given us the responsibility and trust to care for all of creation in humility and faithfulness, to work and to love as co-creators of God.
