GRATITUDE IS A MANIFESTATION OF SALVATION

In the story of Jesus’ life, few people showed any gratitude in what He did for them. One of those few people who did show gratitude is someone that I greatly admire for what she testified to before the Lord and as it turned out, the world. This is the story of a so called “lady of the evening”, that is, a public woman, known even to the Pharisees for selling her body to the highest bidder. I am intrigued by her story and have even made several presentations about her gratitude for years because I believe a deep mystery lies in everything that happened that day. However, recently I made a new discovered in her story that is a great manifestation of LOVE and THANKFULLNESS. This story is unique and a great lesson for those of us who claim to love someone, not only with lovely words, but with concrete actions of love, like this woman did. I encourage you to read this biblical passage below right now in a quiet environment free from distractions so that you can concentrate on each word and let the Holy Spirit reveal to you what is behind each action; God will speak to your heart as He did to mine, I invite you to reread it several times. I am certain that if we understand this Gospel passage and strive to imitate this woman, we will be one of the few who will experience the great joy of having known the LOVE of LOVES in this life and the HOPE of spending Eternal Life enjoying the LOVE of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, this is the story:

“When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, He went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind Him at His feet weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited Him, saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, He would know who is touching Him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner. Jesus answered him, ‘Simon, I have something to tell you.’ ‘Tell me, teacher,’ He said. Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more? Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.” You have judged correctly,” Jesus said. Then He turned toward the woman and said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give Me any water for My feet, but she wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give Me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing My feet. You did not put oil on My head, but she has poured perfume on My feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.’ Then Jesus said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ The other guests began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ Jesus said to the woman, ‘Your Faith has saved you; go in peace.’ (Luke 7:36-50)

There is a great life lesson in what you have just read. I know you will be moved when you meditate on it. Let me guide in your thoughts so you grasp each scene in this story. We do not know the woman’s name, but from everything she did, it is ultimately clear that she had already experienced her metanoia, her conversion. For she was already following Jesus, because she knew that He would arrive at the house of Simon, a Pharisee who invited Him along with Simon’s fellow Pharisees, since, like most of them, they did not care for Jesus and sought to accuse Him of something so that the crowds would stop following Him. This woman was not on the guest list but she nonetheless went to the gathering from where she could have been thrown out and banned; this shows what a thankful heart does for the one who brought it out of the abyss of darkness. Once she gets in the house, she goes straight to her Lord and Savior.

This is what the true religion is all about, being close to Jesus. Each of the details in this story are, in my opinion, enormous signs of gratitude. Once close to Him, the woman saw His feet were full of dust – the tradition at the time required the hosts to treat their guests kindly and wash their dusty feet. Tradition also required hosts to anoint their guests’ heads with oil at dinner time as an important gesture of faith and love. But Simon did nothing of the sort. The woman burst into tears that fell on Jesus’ feet, tears of love, gratitude and joy. The type of tears I wish would flow from our hearts, a higher-level type of tears. Realizing that her tears were so many as to actually remove the dust from Jesus’ feet, she used her hair to clean them in a demonstrative action of humility. Next, she took out the perfume that, according to some biblical experts, prostitutes used to make their clients feel better. Such perfume was very expensive (worth 300 days of work for a day laborer; a day’s wage was worth a denarius). I’m sure she poured it all out, because this was the ultimate life encounter for her and she would certainly have seize it.

As you know, in the United States, we celebrate Thanksgiving this month, one of the most important holidays for me and my family. A holiday that calls for thankfulness, because gratitude is a great virtue. Like the woman in the passage, who, out of gratitude, risked everything even being further judged, scorned and ridiculed by others. Jesus, who knows our thoughts, explained the meaning of gratefulness and thereby revealed to them a way to reach Salvation. To show Jesus our gratitude for His death on the Cross to save us and forgive our sins; going to the temple, praying and saying “thank you” is not enough. The woman in the passage showed her gratitude at great personal risk. And we can follow her example by doing a concrete action for those who suffer physical or emotional pain, or those who are lost in darkness; I believe that Catholicism is something that we do.

On our mission trip to El Salvador in September, hundreds approached me to express their gratitude for what God has done through ESNE television. A very humble lady from a distant village, or “canton” as they are also called, gave me a fold of paper. I thought it was a prayer request for someone or something like that, but after the event, I unfolded the piece of paper and discovered that this little sister had given me $500 (USD) dollars. This was astonishing! In El Salvador, as in other Latin American countries, the likely monthly salary is less than $400 (USD) dollars. Therefore, most of the people find it very difficult to save $1000 (USD) dollars in an entire year. This lady reminded me of the widow, that according to Jesus, contributed a few coins, which was probably all that she had. I was so profoundly touched that tears welled up. I know that, if I had opened it in her presence, I would have advised her not to give me so much as she would most likely needed it. But then again, I might have precluded the blessings that God would send upon her as a reward for her gratitude to Jesus for all the He has done in her life. On this mission trip, we did not ask for contributions but freely proclaimed Good Tidings to all who came; this contribution, from the little sister, will be used in the Ministry as perfume unto the Lord. Know that, more than ever, I will continue to volunteer at ESNE because I am in total debt to my Savior for all that He does for me and that is why I take concrete actions every day to do what I can for my brothers and sisters wherever they are through TV, Radio, Streaming and Social Media.

Special thanks to all the people who welcomed us with joy and hope in our mission trip to El Salvador, I enjoyed all the different encounters we shared and I continue to extend a cordial invitation to all of you to take concrete actions and Consecrate your life to Jesus Christ through I Am the 73rd Project, which will undoubtedly bring the fruits of Salvation to your lives. Do not hesitate to contact us at (818) 912-5842 in the USA or write to us at info@iam73.net. Finally, I thank all those who joined the last God is Faithful and has been good to us day. On behalf of my wife Sara, my family and The Sower family at large, I THANK YOU for your prayers and your seeds sown in good soil; Happy Thanksgiving.

In the Love of Christ Jesus and Mary Most Holy,