This weekend every year two things happen: we celebrate Father’s Day…and the US Golf Open is played. One of the greatest golfing legends of all times is Billy Casper. This past year he wrote his autobiography called, The Big Three And Me, filled with great insight and wisdom about what impacted his life the most. On this 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time we hear the famous story of the sinful woman who washes the feet of Jesus and anoints his body with perfume. I found it interesting to see the similarities of how Billy Casper has lead his life….and how Jesus deals with the situation he finds himself in between the woman and the Pharisee. Click and see what I mean…

1. 16 June 2013 11th
Sunday in Ordinary Time Princeton, NJ
Happy Father’s Day to all the dad’s, granddad’s, step dad’s and soon to be dad’s. And if it is Father’s
Day, it must also be the final round of U.S. Golf Open – this year being played nearby on the rain soaked
course at Merion County Club.
Recently I read an article about one of the greatest names in golf - Billy Casper. Last year he released
his autobiography called, “The Big Three and Me.” The big three he is referring to is Arnold Palmer, Gary
Player and Jack Nicklaus. In his book he reflects that while his most successful career was
overshadowed by those three greats he was blessed with an incredible life. Today Billy is 82 years old,
happily married for 60 years, with 11 children and 36 grandchildren. Recently, while speaking to a small
group, he was asked how he overcame adversity and the struggles associated with balancing being a
Dad while being one of the greatest players of golf. He answered, “I didn’t have a choice that is how I was
raised.” He went on to say, “But what I learned pretty quickly is that it’s the people who make the journey
with you. I feel like every person I’ve met along the way has enriched my life in some way. Every one of
them, even all of you today.”
And with that piece of wisdom Billy Casper gives us the heart of today’s gospel message. For what we
heard is that when you open the doors of your life to others it allows for movement. It allows for
connections. It allows for relationships to take place. For in this morning’s gospel from Luke, Jesus is
throwing open the doors of the status quo of his times. And while this story of the sinful woman washing
the feet of Jesus is told in each of the four gospels, this version we just heard is different than the other
three giving rise to the question – why and what does it mean for us?
The other three accounts focus on the concern of the apostles that so much money was being wasted on
the perfume the woman pours on the feet of Christ. But in Luke’s version the disciples are absent from
the event and we are left with three main players: Simon the Pharisee, the sinful woman and Jesus.
The story begins by Jesus accepting an invitation to come dine at the house of Simon the Pharisee. The
word ‘pharisee’ actually means ‘to separate.’ For their belief system was rooted in the strict observance
of Jewish Laws. For them, holiness was achieved by keeping oneself ‘separate’ from sin and sinners. In
other words, they closed doors on all who did not follow the law and that they deemed were sinners.
The other main character in the story is the “sinful woman.” We are never told of her name or what her
sins were, but since they were so well known in the community, it is supposed that she was a prostitute.
This public knowledge of her sinful life made it near impossible for her to get close to Jesus. But the
dinner Simon was throwing for Jesus gave her the opportunity to connect with him. For meals such as
these were opened to all locals to drop by and eat around the perimeter of the room while the invited
guests and the host reclined in the center of the room, propped up on one arm, facing the center.
As we just heard, there is no real sense that Simon is opening his doors for an authentic relationship with
Christ for when Jesus arrives he was not offered any of the common hospitality that is normally given to
guests. For it would have been customary for Jesus to have been welcomed with a kiss, to have had his
dusty feet washed and to have been refreshed with the anointing of oil. Rather Simon was focused on
whether Jesus would follow Judaic law. Since this woman was unclean according to the law, Jesus was
prohibited from getting within 2 feet of her. But as Jesus reclines to eat, he allows the sinful woman to
wash his feet and anoint him with the perfume she brought with her.
1 Deacon Jim Knipper

2. Jesus, knowing that Simon is appalled by all this, tells the parable of the money lender to make his point.
It is through this story that Jesus makes it clear that her faith in Christ has saved her as he tells her that
her sins are forgiven. And that the love that she showed Jesus by caring for him was not the cause of the
forgiveness but proof of it. All too often the translations of the text lead one to believe that the reason
Jesus forgave her sins was because she showed great love – or in other words she earned it. But Christ
is clear that it is her faith that has saved her. It is by faith that our eyes are opened to God’s forgiveness. It
is through love we give thanks, we open doors and we build relationships. God loves us not because we
love God but because God is love.
Since he was elected Pope, Francis has been saying daily mass where he lives in community at Casa
Santa Marta. His homilies have provided some great insights into this man and his spirituality and his
grace. The theme of his May 25th homily spoke about this need to open doors. He voiced great concern
over the fact that many people come to the Church and are met by doors that are closed. He outlined a
number of examples where people come to the Church looking for help and hospitality and healing and
instead are confronted with rudeness, rules and regulations. He describes a Church where many are
greeted by those who want to control the faith like Simon the Pharisee. He said, “We need to open the
doors versus being people who want to control the faith. The faith of the People of God is a simple faith,
perhaps without much theology, but it has an inward theology that is not wrong because the Spirit is
behind it.” He went on to warn that we should not create an eighth sacrament of “pastoral customs” where
we insist on Church protocol versus seeking to meet the spiritual needs of others.
Going back to the gospel I think it interesting that we are never given the name of the sinful woman.
Perhaps it was to protect her, although everyone knew who she was. I would like to believe that her
name was omitted so that we could insert our own names. For all of us are no different than the sinful
woman. We are all sinners…but this Gospel reminds us that we all have a choice. Do we seek and offer
forgiveness? Or do we follow the Pharisees and spend our lives being judgmental - closing our doors to
others we deem unworthy?
C.S. Lewis said, “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has already forgiven
the inexcusable in you. And just last week the Pope, in a small group meeting of religious said "We all
make mistakes [we all sin] – it happens! But keep going forward...open doors, do something where life is
calling out to you.
Each day brings opportunities for new doors to be opened…new lives to be touched and new ways to
experience God’s love and forgiveness. Billy Casper said he still gets up each day excited about what that
day will bring and ready to open the next door and to meet the next person.
So, the choice is yours! How do you want to start living your new day?
2 Deacon Jim Knipper