Posted by The WORD in other words (2009) by Fr. Vic Rayco, SVD – St. Jude Catholic School, Manila
Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene – July 22 2025
A young priest, I was once in a Bible Study Group that did not have many attendees. I remember vividly an old pious woman. When I said God loves sinners, she vehemently objected. They should be punished, she said, because they do not love God.
Today’s feast proves that God loves sinners… even before they repent and follow him. Otherwise, Jesus would not even have bothered to talk to her; much less welcome her. Jesus should just have waited for her to go to hell.
Some of us even believe that we need to be as good as the angels to be close or be loved by God. And so we make easy rules such that doing them will make us feel good about ourselves and would conveniently forget about forgiving enemies or taking up the cross or washing others’ feet. Or we would feel very bad about ourselves that the mere mention of God’s name makes us even feel worse.
If we realize that God sees goodness in us and even calls us by name, maybe we will stop feeling bad about ourselves or those we consider sinners. Maybe we will even hear or understand Christ’s command that we go to others and tell them that he has gone to his Father and our Father, to his God and our God.
Yes, our God loves sinners. Jesus died and rose for them.
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