Summary
Speaker Mallory Smyth guides us through Lectio Divina on the Pardon of the Sinful Women (Luke 7:36–50). Through slow, prayerful listening to the Word of God, we will open ourselves to receive Christ’s mercy and respond with deeper love.
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Reflective Study Guide Questions
“‘I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.’ He said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’”
Luke 7:47-48
1. Where did you place yourself in the story? Did you find yourself in the place of the woman, Christ, Simon, the Pharisee, or another bystander to these events?
2. What word or phrase stood out to you most in the reading?
3. What do you think the Lord was trying to speak to you through this Scripture passage?
4. What will you take away from this prayerful exercise? How might you take what God spoke to you and apply it to your life right now?
Text: Praying with Scripture: “Your faith has saved you, go in peace”
During this session, we are going to be praying together through scripture doing Lectio Divina, which simply means divine reading. I believe it was Pope Benedict XVI who said that if every Catholic participated in Lectio Divina, that there would be a new springtime in the church. The Holy Spirit has a way of speaking directly to us on the word of God, and so that’s what we are going to do right now.
Lectio Divina
Lectio Divina has four parts, so it has Lectio, Meditatio, Oratio, and Contemplatio, which means first is that we read. We’re going to read through this passage slowly together, and then we’re going to sit with it. And then we’re going to read again, and we are going to meditate. There might be a phrase or a word that sticks out to you. Maybe the Holy Spirit is trying to tell you something. And if that sticks out to you, you can try to repeat it in your mind, and that’s Meditatio, meditating.
And then we’ll move into Oratio. Whatever the Holy Spirit is trying to reveal to you, that’s when you can start to talk to God about it. Asking him, why is this coming up? What might you want to teach me? And that’s where you can have a conversation with God. And then we’ll read it one more time, and you are invited to contemplate, to just sit in the Lord’s presence and be silent with whatever he gave you.
So with that said, let’s open up in a prayer. If you have your Bible with you, we are going to be reading from Luke 7:36-50. It is the story of Jesus pardoning a sinful woman, and it’s one of my favorite passages to meditate on, because I believe each of us can see ourselves in this woman and her encounter with Christ.
Opening Prayer
In the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen. Lord, we place ourselves in your presence. You tell us that your word is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, cutting through bone and marrow, revealing the thoughts of the heart. We know that your word is as alive today as it was when you wrote it, and so we just place ourselves in it so that you can speak to us through it.
I ask that you open our ears, that you open our hearts, that you remove distractions, that thing that we’re thinking about, the grocery list or the situation that we’re trying to figure out or our frustrations, that you would just give us the grace to have true silence and true space as we dive into Luke 7.
Luke 7: 36-50
So we’ll start with Lectio. We’ll start with reading it.
“One of the Pharisees invited Jesus to dine with him. When he arrived at the Pharisee’s house, he took his place at table. A woman of the town who was leading a sinful life learned that Jesus was a dinner guest in the Pharisee’s house. Carrying with her an alabaster jar of ointment, she stood behind him at his feet weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she kissed his feet and anointed them with ointment.
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were really a prophet, he would’ve known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.’
Jesus then said to the Pharisee, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ He replied, ‘What is it, teacher?’ ‘There were two men who were in debt to a certain creditor. One owed him 500 dinari, and the other owed 50. When they were unable to repay him, he canceled both debts. Now, which one of them will love him more?’ Simon answered, ‘I would imagine that it would be the one who was forgiven the larger amount.’
Jesus replied, ‘You have judged rightly.’ Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your home and you provided me no water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet from the time I came in. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins have been forgiven, which are many, because she has shown great love. But the one who has been forgiven little has little love.’
Then Jesus said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ Those who are at table began to say to themselves, ‘Who is this man who even forgives sins?’ But Jesus said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.'”
Lord, we place ourselves in this story. We ask that you invite us in to give us an idea of what this could have looked like, how this woman could have felt, how you felt, what the Pharisee was thinking. Give us familiarity with what is going on here so that we can place ourselves in it.
Meditatio
“One of the Pharisees invited Jesus to dine with him. When he arrived at the Pharisee’s house, he took his place at table. A woman of the town who was leading a sinful life learned that Jesus was a dinner guest in the Pharisee’s house. Carrying with her an alabaster jar of ointment, she stood behind him at his feet weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she kissed his feet and anointed them with ointment.
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were really a prophet, he would’ve known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.’
Jesus then said to the Pharisee, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ He replied, ‘What is it, teacher?’ ‘There were two men who were in debt to a certain creditor. One owed him 500 dinari, and the other owed 50. When they were unable to repay him, he canceled both debts. Now, which one of them will love him more?’ Simon answered, ‘I would imagine that it would be the one who was forgiven the larger amount.’
Jesus replied, ‘You have judged rightly.’ Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your home and you provided me no water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet from the time I came in. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins have been forgiven, which are many, because she has shown great love. But the one who has been forgiven little has little love.’
Then Jesus said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ Those who are at table began to say to themselves, ‘Who is this man who even forgives sins?’ But Jesus said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.'”
Lord, what is it that you want to say to us? What is it that you want to teach us during this time? What word do you want us to rest upon? What phrase? What part of the scene is standing out to us? Give us the grace to meditate upon that word, that phrase, that scene, and whatever it brings up in our hearts, whatever insight or whatever question we might have.
Oratio
“One of the Pharisees invited Jesus to dine with him. When he arrived at the Pharisee’s house, he took his place at table. A woman of the town who was leading a sinful life learned that Jesus was a dinner guest in the Pharisee’s house. Carrying with her an alabaster jar of ointment, she stood behind him at his feet weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she kissed his feet and anointed them with ointment.
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were really a prophet, he would’ve known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.’
Jesus then said to the Pharisee, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ He replied, ‘What is it, teacher?’ ‘There were two men who were in debt to a certain creditor. One owed him 500 dinari, and the other owed 50. When they were unable to repay him, he canceled both debts. Now, which one of them will love him more?’ Simon answered, ‘I would imagine that it would be the one who was forgiven the larger amount.’
Jesus replied, ‘You have judged rightly.’ Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your home and you provided me no water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet from the time I came in. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins have been forgiven, which are many, because she has shown great love. But the one who has been forgiven little has little love.’
Then Jesus said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ Those who are at table began to say to themselves, ‘Who is this man who even forgives sins?’ But Jesus said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.'”
Lord, we take this time to bring to you the things that are coming up in our hearts, the things that are making us think about our own lives, maybe the way that we want to hide in our sin, and this woman just rushed to you regardless of what other people thought. Or maybe the way we tend to judge other people, and yet Jesus is trying to show the Pharisee that he doesn’t know his own sin, that he doesn’t know that he has been forgiven, so he cannot love the way she is. Whatever you are bringing up for us, whatever questions, we bring them to you, Lord, into conversation with you about them right now. We’ll read together one last time.
Contemplatio
“One of the Pharisees invited Jesus to dine with him. When he arrived at the Pharisee’s house, he took his place at table. A woman of the town who was leading a sinful life learned that Jesus was a dinner guest in the Pharisee’s house. Carrying with her an alabaster jar of ointment, she stood behind him at his feet weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she kissed his feet and anointed them with ointment.
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were really a prophet, he would’ve known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.’
Jesus then said to the Pharisee, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ He replied, ‘What is it, teacher?’ ‘There were two men who were in debt to a certain creditor. One owed him 500 dinari, and the other owed 50. When they were unable to repay him, he canceled both debts. Now, which one of them will love him more?’ Simon answered, ‘I would imagine that it would be the one who was forgiven the larger amount.’
Jesus replied, ‘You have judged rightly.’ Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your home and you provided me no water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet from the time I came in. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins have been forgiven, which are many, because she has shown great love. But the one who has been forgiven little has little love.’
Then Jesus said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ Those who are at table began to say to themselves, ‘Who is this man who even forgives sins?’ But Jesus said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.'”
Lord, thank you for your word. I ask that you allow it to just wash over us, that we would sit in contemplation of whatever it is that you are speaking over us right now. You see every person that you encounter fully with all their sins, their faults, and their failings, with all the goodness and the joy in them, and you accept them exactly as they are, and then you enter into their lives and you transform them.
Lord, let us not keep ourselves from you, but like this woman, run to your feet and just lavish you with love, because we are so aware of the mercy that you have given to us. Amen. And of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
About Mallory Smyth
Mallory Smyth is a Catholic author and national speaker. She has authored the book Rekindled and three Walking with Purpose Bible Studies. She is also the host of the podcast “The Gospel &…with Mallory Smyth”. Mallory has been in full time ministry for the past 13 years. She has worked formerly as a FOCUS missionary and a content creator for Walking with Purpose. It is her dream to see Catholics fall deeply in love with God and grab hold of the joy offered in the Gospel. She lives in Denver with her husband and five children.
You can learn more about Mallory at www.mallory-smyth.com
And you can follow her on Instagram here: @malloryasmyth, on Substack, and listen to her podcast here.