Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much. Greek, ב̉צש×פבי, have been forgiven. At what time, we may ask, were her sins forgiven?
1. Francis Lucas thinks at the time when the Lord said unto her, "Thy sins ate forgiven," v48.
2. Others are of opinion that her sins were forgiven when our Lord in this present verse declared unto Simon the fact of her pardon.
3. But it seems more probable that her sins were forgiven at some time antecedent, i.e. when she felt true contrition for her offences. Because when by the grace of God she had been led to see the heinousness of her sin, so deep was her contrition and sorrow, that she thereby regained the divine favour, and so her love for God and her sorrow for her sins impelled her to show openly the reality of her repentance, and therefore before Christ could say unto her, "Thy sins are forgiven," she had obtained forgiveness by reason of her complete penitence.
We may, however, take the words "her sins are forgiven" as spoken in the same sense in which the priest pronounces absolution over a penitent, who is already reconciled to God by his perfect repentance. The priest absolves him who is already absolved, and this absolution is so effectual as to do away with any sin which might still attach itself to the penitent. Further, a sin often repeated may be often forgiven, if the penitent confesses his fault as often as he commits it, and seeks absolution at the hands of the Church. Hence Christ for the third time forgives the sins of the Magdalene. Wherefore He freed her not only from the guilt but from the punishment of sin, and granted her free release.
This is what the angel said to a certain Bishop of the Church: Penitence and confession restore the penitent to the number of the elect." Again, "The tears of a penitent may well bear the name of a baptism." Barlaam. And Palladius tells us, that a certain virgin who had fallen into sin "was more pleasing to God in her penitence, than in her former purity." See also S. Jerome (De pÅ“nitentia Fabiolæ); and Climacus (De pÅ“nitentia.)
For she loved much. Toletus and some others think that the word "for" signifies not the cause but rather affords the proof of her forgiveness. "Thou mightest have known, 0 Simon, that her sins were forgiven, for these open signs of love are bestowed on Me in gratitude for my forgiveness of her sins."
But this explanation is faulty, because the Magdalene knew not that she had been forgiven, until she heard Christ pronounce the pardon of her sins. And Christ does not say, Learn from her acts of love that her sins have been forgiven, but on the contrary, Her sins are forgiven because of her love.
Hence the cause of the Magdalene"s forgiveness was her great love for God, which led her to hate and abhor her former sins. For love is the death of sin, and the life of righteousness. S. Augustine (De laudibus charitatis.) Hence all theologians hold with him, that the act or perfect contrition which includes the entire surrender of the heart to God, precedes, but at once brings with it justification and forgiveness of sin as its final result, in the same way as a certain amount of heat (calor ut octo) applied to wood, as a result produces actual fire in that wood.
So the Council of Trent (Sess. xiv. cap.iv.), distinguishig between the attrition caused by fear of punishment and the contrition which follows on the love of God, decides that the latter, in conjunction with the sacrament of penance, reconciles the sinner with God, which the former is in no wise able to do; for "a broken and a contrite heart, 0 God, thou wilt not despise," Ps. li17. Hence S. Gregory (Hom33) explains, "Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much, i.e. she burnt off the corruptions of sin, because she was inflamed with the fire of love. For the more the heart of the sinner burns with the love of God the wore is he purified from the lust and corruption of sin."
But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. This refers to the Pharisee, because he obtained no forgiveness, inasmuch as he showed no signs of penitence or of love for God. Our Lord, under reserve, saith little or "less," as the Vulgate renders it, is forgiven, though he might have said "nothing" is forgiven. But by the words "to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little," we may understand:
1. That, according to the principles on which God forgives sins, "one mortal sin, even though it be the least, cannot be forgiven without its accompanying sins being forgiven also, and whensoever one is forgiven, the others are forgiven as far as the guilt is concerned, but more or less of punishment is meted out, according to the degree of love which fills the heart of the penitent."
2. That he who has no love for God, or only that natural love which well nigh all men possess, loves God less than one whose love is divinely inspired. Hence to the one many, i.e. all his sins, are pardoned; to the other less, i.e. nothing, is forgiven. All was forgiven the Magdalene because she was truly contrite, and sought forgiveness by every means in her power; but the Pharisee received no forgiveness, because he felt no sorrow for sin, and had not even given the feast with any desire of obtaining mercy from Christ..
For Christ designed the parable to apply to S. Mary Magdalene and also to the Pharisee, and willed from it to show why the one was forgiven but the other not. S. Augustine adds, "The parable was spoken because the Pharisee thought he had few, if any sins, not because he had no love, for he showed some love in that he invited our Lord." And again, "0 Pharisee, thou lovest little, not because little is forgiven thee, but because thou thoughtest that there was little which needed forgiveness." Toletus remarks, "Little was forgiven Simon, because by the grace of God he had been preserved from committing sin, for he had entertained Christ, and not persecuted him as the other Pharisees. Hence it is very probable that afterwards this Pharisee became a true follower of Christ." See further Suarez, Parte iii, de Gratia, lib. viii. cap. x.
