I am directing a Lenten retreat next month for my parish. The title of the retreat is Your Faith Has Saved You; Go In Peace.
The retreat uses the themes of the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius. There are four prayer periods and each period has a theme. I am using Luke 7:36-50 for the first prayer period.
The theme of the first prayer period is Sin and God’s Love and Mercy — We are in need of salvation.
This is the story of the sinful woman who washes Jesus’ feet with her tears. She dries them with her hair. She is constantly kissing His feet and finally anoints them with ointment from an alabaster flask.
Simon the Pharisee, in whose house He is dining, says to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.”
Of course Jesus knows she is a sinner. He tells her, “Your sins are forgiven.” He adds, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
I chose this reading to be the theme of the retreat because whenever I speak and write about my faith I try to emphasized the love God has for His creatures. When I was growing up many of the people, perhaps most of the people, I knew lived with the belief that God was just waiting for them to make a mistake and they would end up in hell.
In God Loves You As You Are, I wrote about my experience with Fr. Brennan Manning and his message that, “God loves you as you are, not as you should be, because no one is as they should be.” I try to select examples of Christ in scripture showing us how His love works.
Christ told the sinful woman her faith had saved her. Why did that save her?
By faith the woman believed that Christ was her savior, the Messiah. By grace she was moved to tears. She felt sorrow for having sinned. Jesus forgave her and told her to go in peace.
I am teaching in my Parish’s OCIA, Order of Christian Initiation for Adults, program. Some are catechumens, those who are unbaptized, and others are candidates, those baptized in a Christian faith other than Catholic. Those who will be baptized at the Easter Vigil will not have to go to confession. Those who were baptized in another faith will have to go to confession.
Some of the baptized do not understand why they will have to confess their sins. They believe they are justified by faith alone. They were taught Jesus’ act of sacrifice alone was sufficient to forgive all sins they may commit.
As Catholics we believe we have to have sorrow and confess our sins to a priest who then absolves us of our sins and gives us a penance to perform so that we are reconciled with God.
Why the difference?
I believe the sinful woman experienced perfect contrition for her sins. She was not sorry because she was afraid of being punished. She was sorry because her sins hurt her savior whom she loved. She felt sorrow because she had offended God.
Perfect contrition will also bring forgiveness for our sins. However, perfection is something we do not normally achieve. God knows that. For that reason He gave us the sacrament of confession or penance or reconciliation. Take your pick. They are all parts of the same sacrament that forgives our sins, even those we call mortal sins.
Take time this Lenten season to recall all of the times God has showed you His love. Reflect on the times you have failed to show your love for Him and your sorrow for having offended Him. Go to confession and confess your sins to a priest. Have your sins forgiven and be reconciled with the One who truly loves you. Go from there experiencing the peace that comes with knowing God loves you.
Greg Gillen
February 3, 2026
© 2026 Greg Gillen
Scripture/New American Bible: Revised Edition
Image Credit/Feast in the House of Simon the Pharisee/Rubens/commons.wikimedia.org/Public Domain
