"One of the Pharisees [named Simon] asked Jesus to have dinner with him. … When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 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. When Simon … 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!' Then Jesus answered his thoughts. … 'A man loaned money to two people – 500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, cancelling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?' Simon replied, 'I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the larger debt.' 'That’s right,' Jesus said. 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. You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume. 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.' Then Jesus said to the woman, 'Your sins are forgiven … Your faith has saved you; go in peace'" (Lk 7:36-50).

Simon hadn't really taken notice of the women as a person. He hadn't taken in all that she was doing and how much it was costing her. His one overriding thought seems to have been that she had been – and always would be – a loathsome sinner and should be written off as worthless; especially by one purporting to be a prophet. He took offense at Jesus for not rejecting her out-of-hand. Yet, before her arrival, Simon had treated Jesus as he expected Jesus to be treating her, that is, without any of the customary courtesies.

Jesus draws attention to the sharp comparison between what Simon thought of him and what the woman thought of him. And it all hinged on their appreciation, or lack of same, regarding forgiveness. 

Jesus' words: "a person who is forgiven little shows only little love" make us think of Simon. But what did Jesus mean? It seems to me that Jesus is saying: "a self-righteous person believes that their sins – if indeed they are really guilty of any – are of little consequence and therefore whatever forgiveness might he needed is of little value and evokes little gratitude". The truth is that we are all sinners and that our hearts are "the most deceitful of all things and desperately wicked" (Jr 17:9). The forgiveness of our sins is our greatest need and it could only be achieved by the death of the Son of God Himself. 

Does my appreciation of all that the Father has done for me through the gift of his Son summon up the outflow of love exhibited by this woman? Do I value my forgiveness as much as she did? Does my life prompt Jesus to say of me: "Look how extravagantly he loves me! Look at his tears of gratitude! Look at the costly gifts he showers on me. Look at his selfless expressions of devotion. Look how he cares nothing for what others might think of him. Look at his humility. Look at his desire to honour me." To my shame I know I fall far short of this. O Lord, soften my hard heart and forgive my self-centredness!