“Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” That was the famous line of Jenny in the movie, “Love Story” a good number of years ago. Of course that’s not at all true as the first reading and gospel clearly indicate. In the gospel, the woman shows her love for God through the tears she spilled on the feet of Jesus as she washed them, dried them with her hair, and perfumed them with oil. Jesus holds her up as a model of great love and humility. In the first reading, the mighty King David, by admitting his guilt, expresses his love for God.
We human beings can take a lesson from the sinful woman and David because we find it difficult to express our sorrow to those people we offend or hurt. Either our pride gets in the way or our fear of embarrassment keeps us from approaching the person offended. The same holds true when we sin and offend God. We are reluctant to approach him in the sacrament of Confession. That’s so tragic because when we do go, we hear the words of Jesus “Your sins are forgiven… Go now in peace.”
- Fr. Carl
Rev. Stephen Hook is Pastor of the Pastorate of the Visitation which includes the Catholic Churches of Pasadena, Maryland: St. Jane Frances de Chantal (Riviera Beach) and Our Lady of the Chesapeake (Lakeshore). He is assisted by Associate Pastor Rev. John Belinki, Deacon Howard Klohr, and Deacon Rick Clemens. To learn more about our pastorate, please visit www.catholicpasadena.org.
