Thursday Of the Twenty-Fourth Week In Ordinary Time
Forgiving Encounter
Liturgical Cycle: C | Lectionary Cycle: I
Introduction
Today’s liturgy invites us to reflect on faith lived with sincerity and love. In the first reading, Saint Paul urges Timothy to be a true example for the community, not through words alone, but by the way he lives his faith, nourished by Scripture and strengthened through perseverance. In the Gospel, we encounter Jesus at table with a Pharisee, where a woman, known for her sins, shows her love through humble gestures of repentance. Jesus sees her heart, forgives her, and reminds us that those who experience mercy are the ones who can love deeply. As we gather, we are called to let God’s Word take root in us, so that, like Timothy, we become witnesses of faith, and like the forgiven woman, we respond with a love that flows from God’s mercy.
Opening Prayer
Patient and loving Father,
you sent Jesus your Son among us
to heal what is broken and wounded.
He touched us with his goodness
and did not break the crushed reed.
Forgive us our sins,
let your Spirit continue in us
the work of conversion
and make us patient and understanding
with those who love us and those who fail us.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.
First Reading
Introduction: In antiquity, maturity was supposed to come not earlier than the age of fifty. Timothy must have been about thirty only when Paul wrote his first letter to him. Paul advises him to develop the charisma he had received at his ordination through the imposition of hands. He has to be a teacher of the word of God and his life must bear witness to his faith.
Let no one look down on you because of your youth. Be an example to the believers in your speech and conduct, in your love, your faith, and your purity.
Devote yourself to reading, preaching, and teaching until I arrive.
Do not neglect the spiritual gift given to you through the prophetic word when the elders laid their hands on you.
Put these things into practice, so that everyone can see your progress.
Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching. Be steady in doing this, and you will save both yourself and those who listen to you.
Responsorial Psalm
R. How great are the works of the Lord!
The works of his hands are faithful and just;
sure are all his precepts,
Reliable forever and ever,
wrought in truth and equity.
R. How great are the works of the Lord!
He has sent deliverance to his people;
he has ratified his covenant forever;
holy and awesome is his name.
R. How great are the works of the Lord!
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
prudent are all who live by it.
His praise endures forever.
R. How great are the works of the Lord!
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
The Pharisee who had invited Jesus was watching and thought, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of person is touching him; isn’t this woman a sinner?”
Then Jesus spoke to the Pharisee and said:
“Simon, I have something to ask you.”
He answered:
“Speak, master.”
And Jesus said:
Because they could not pay him back, he graciously canceled the debts of both. Now, which of them will love him more?”
Simon answered:
“The one, I suppose, who was forgiven more.”
And Jesus said:
“You are right.”
And turning toward the woman, he said to Simon:
This is why I tell you, her sins, her many sins, are forgiven, as her great love has shown. But the one who is forgiven little has little love.”
Then Jesus said to the woman:
“Your sins are forgiven.”
The others reclining with him at the table started to wonder:
“Now this man claims to forgive sins!”
But Jesus again spoke to the woman:
“Your faith has saved you; go in peace!”
Prayers of the Faithful
– That the community of God’s people may be a source of peace, of forgiveness and reconciliation, of new opportunities for tomorrow, we pray:
– That we may be gentle in our judgment of others, aware that every day anew we too are we in need of forgiveness, we pray:
– That in our families and communities we may be attentive to the good that is done and not be discouraged by each other’s shortcomings, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Our God and Father,
you have invited us to encounter your Son
and to offer with him the sacrifice
that forgives our sins.
Dispose us to forgive others
as you forgive us
and to share at the table of your Son
the bread of unity and reconciliation.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Merciful Father
in this eucharist your Son Jesus said to us too:
your sins are forgiven
and he ate with us the meal
that brings reconciliation.
May all this deepen our love for you
and dispose us to extend a hand of peace
to all those who have hurt us
and to those we have wounded.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.
Blessing
The words of Jesus have been spoken to us too, “Your sins are forgiven.” May it be said of us too that we show great love, both of God and of people. May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Lk 7:36-50
You loved much!
Jesus accepts the hospitality of a Pharisee named Simon and uses the situation to share an important lesson. How come a woman of ill repute walks into a Pharisee's house without being stopped is not explained here.
The text emphasises the significance of the woman's silent gestures in expressing her devotion to Jesus. It highlights the actions of the woman's eyes, shedding tears, her hands anointing Jesus's feet, her lips kissing his feet, and her hair drying his feet. Seven times, the author refers to the feet of Jesus. These physical acts of devotion are portrayed as deeply meaningful and are accepted by Jesus.
The woman enters and positions herself at the feet of Jesus. She begins to weep and cleanses His feet with her tears. What do those tears signify? They have been interpreted as symbols of repentance and a plea for forgiveness from Jesus. However, she is not petitioning Jesus for forgiveness; she has already been forgiven. Those tears are not expressions of sorrow; they are tears of joy from one who has finally realized her life's worth.
Every Eucharist is a meal with Jesus. Despite our unworthiness to dine with Jesus, no one would stop us at the door; rather, we are welcomed to the table of the Lord. At the table, we are all equal in dignity as children of God. Jesus speaks to Simon, his host: “She has loved much.” As we gather around the table of the Lord, will Jesus say the same about each of us – he loved much, she loved much?
As the woman left the table better than she came in, we, too, leave the Mass as a new person, better than we came in.
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18 SEPTEMBER 2025
Love Opens the Door to Forgiveness
Today’s Gospel (Luke 7:36–50) unfolds like a painting, so vivid that one can almost see the colours and gestures. The scene takes place in the courtyard of Simon the Pharisee, where Jesus is reclining at table. According to custom, a guest of honour should have been greeted with a kiss of peace, his feet washed with water, and his head anointed with perfume. Yet Simon, the host, offers none of these courtesies. Jesus is treated with polite contempt, invited perhaps out of curiosity, but not out of love.
Then enters a woman, known by everyone as a sinner. She brings nothing but her tears and her alabaster flask. In a gesture of deep humility, she wets the feet of Jesus with her tears, dries them with her unbound hair, and anoints them with perfume. She breaks every social convention, forgetting everyone except Jesus. And in her vulnerability, she discovers mercy.
Here we see two hearts contrasted: Simon’s self-sufficient heart, and the woman’s heart, open in need. Simon feels no need, and so he shows no love, and he receives no forgiveness. The woman, aware of her brokenness, pours out her love, and in return, she receives forgiveness and peace.
This is the paradox of our faith: the one who thinks himself righteous closes the door to God’s mercy, while the one who knows her need opens herself to His love. The saints remind us of this truth—Paul calls himself the “foremost of sinners” (1 Tim 1:15), Francis of Assisi confessed to being the most wretched. The closer they drew to God, the more they recognised their need for mercy.
Let us learn from this woman of the Gospel: to kneel before Jesus with all our tears, to let go of our pride, and to allow His forgiveness to restore us. For God is love, and love’s greatest glory is to be needed.