(Verse 32.) We sang to you, and you did not dance: we lamented, and you did not weep.
Even though these may not seem unsuitable for the role of children who engage in light physical activity due to their immaturity in more serious matters, I presume that they can be interpreted in a deeper sense because they appear to be Jews who did not believe in the psalms at first, nor in the later prophetic laments: provoked by the psalms to rewards, and recalled from error by the laments. David sang, that we may hang up our harps on the willows. He himself sang, and danced before the ark of the Lord, not for lasciviousness, but for religious devotion (2 Samuel 6:14). Therefore, it is not the movements of the actor's undulating body in leaps, but the energetic mind and the religious agility of the body that are portrayed. However, the correction that followed was not in triumphs or in the downfall of the Jews, who, provoked by the gifts of divine indulgence, should have eased their minds, lifted their bodies, abandoned earthly things, and sought heavenly things, and, worn down by the injuries of captivity, bewailed the sin that was the cause of the offense.
6. (Verse 35.) Therefore Wisdom is justified by all her children. Well by all, because justice is preserved around all, so that the reception of the faithful may be, and the rejection of the unfaithful. From which the majority of Greeks have it thus: Wisdom is justified by all her works; that is, the work of justice is to preserve the measure around the merit of each individual.
7. Therefore he says well: We have sung to you, and you have not danced (Exodus 15:1). Moses sang indeed when he made the waves subside in the Red Sea for the crossing of the Jews, the water stood up, and it submerged the horses of the Egyptians and their riders. Isaiah sang the song of his beloved vineyard, indicating that the people, who had previously been fruitful with abundant virtues, would become rough with wickedness (Isaiah 5:1). The Hebrews sang when their feet were moistened by the touch of the roasting flame, both inside and outside, while everything else was burning; however, the fire alone licked them harmlessly and did not burn them (Daniel 3:24). Habakkuk also, with a learned song, comforted the public sorrow, and prophesied that the passion of the Lord would be sweet to the faithful (Habakkuk 3:2). Therefore, the prophets sang with spiritual melodies, resulting in public words of salvation. The prophets wept with mournful dirges, soothing the hard hearts of the Jews.
Scripture has taught us to sing seriously and to sing spiritually (Psal. 46:8). It has also taught us to dance wisely, as the Lord said to Ezekiel: 'Clap your hands and stamp your feet' (Ezek. 6:11); for God, the judge of morals, does not require the loose movements of a dancer, or indecent noises from men, or the applause of women, in order to lead a prophet into the mockery of actors and the softness of women. The revealed mysteries of the resurrection do not fit well with the shameful actions of dancing. It is healthy for there to be a certain applause for good actions and deeds, whose sound spreads in all directions and results in the glory of well-done things. And honorable dancing, in which the soul rejoices, and the body is uplifted by good works, when we hang our musical instruments on the willow trees.
Therefore, the prophet is commanded to clap his hands and strike his foot; he is commanded to sing praises because he already saw the wedding of the bridegroom, in which the Church is espoused and Christ is loved. And good is the wedding when the soul is betrothed to the Spirit by the Word made flesh. In these wedding festivities, the prophet David wanted us to play, he invited us to them because he was joining his descendants; and therefore, happier than the others, as if placed in the very act of the wedding, he exhorts us to the celebration of the festive gift, saying: Rejoice in God, our helper, sing joyfully to God, Jacob. Take up the psalm, and give the timbrel, the pleasant psaltery with the harp (Psalm 80:2-3). Do you not recognize the certain act of the prophet dancing? Finally, elsewhere: I will sing to you on the harp, O Holy Israel. My lips will rejoice when I sing to you, and my soul which you have redeemed (Psalm 69:22-23). Do you hear the voices of those playing the harp, do you hear the sounds of those dancing? Believe it to be a wedding.
10. Take also your lyre, so that the struck chords of the interior veins make the sound of a good work. Take your psaltery, so that the harmony of your words and deeds may sing together. Take the timbrel, so that the instrument of your body may modulate the inner spirit, and let the sweetness of your behavior be expressed in your actions. Thus the prophet sang, when he said: Come here from Lebanon, my bride, come here from Lebanon (Song of Songs 4:8).
11. This song was sung by the boys, but they were not heard. Which boys? Of whom it is said: Behold I, and the boys whom you have given me (Isaiah VIII, 18). But this song was not sung in the marketplace, nor in the streets, but in Jerusalem; for it is the Lord's forum, in which the laws of heavenly precepts are established.
(Vers. 37.)
(Verse 37.) And behold, a woman who was a sinner in the city.
12. At this point, many seem to have a scruple and raise questions as to whether the two Evangelists appear to have disagreed about faith, or whether they wanted to indicate some diversity in the diversity of their words as a mystery. For you have in the Gospel according to Matthew that Jesus, when he had come to Bethany, into the house of Simon the leper, a woman approached him with an alabaster jar of precious ointment, and while he was reclining, she poured it on his head (Matthew 26:6-7). Then there: the Pharisee says within himself that if he were a prophet, he would know the sinner and should avoid her ointment (Ibid., 8). There the disciples complain about the spilled ointment. Therefore, both must be explained, but the one that is first in the order of the writings should also receive the first order of interpretation.
13. Therefore, the Lord Jesus came into the house of Simon the leper. It is clear that the stewardship does not shy away from the leper, does not avoid the unclean, in order to be able to remove the stains from the human body. But the house of the leper was in Bethany, which is called the house of obedience by interpretation. Therefore, all of Bethany is the portion of the house of Simon. Does it not seem to you that Bethany is a clean place, in which we must offer the service of obedience, but the house of Simon the leper is like the earth, which is a portion of the world? But the prince of this age is a certain leper named Simon. Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ came from those higher places into this world and descended to the earth. He was not in this world, but by obedient piety, he was sent into this world. He himself says: As you sent me into this world (John 6:57). Therefore, this woman heard that Christ had come, she entered the house of Simon; for this woman could not have been healed unless Christ had come to the earth. And perhaps for this reason it also enters the house of Simon, because it has the appearance of a higher soul, namely, the Church, which descends to earth in order to gather the people to itself with a good fragrance.
14. (Verse 38.) Therefore, Saint Matthew introduces this woman pouring ointment on Christ's head (Matthew 26:7): and perhaps he did not want to say she was a sinner, as the sinner according to Luke poured ointment on Christ's feet. Therefore, it is possible that they are not the same, so that the evangelists do not seem to contradict each other. It is also possible that the question is resolved by the difference in merit and time, so that the former is still a sinner, while the latter is more perfect. For although the Church or the soul does not change its person, it does change its progress. Therefore, if you determine that the soul approaches God faithfully, not with shameful and obscene sins, but serving God's Word devoutly, having the confidence of immaculate chastity, you notice that it ascends to the head of Christ (and the head of Christ is God (I Cor. XI, 3)) and spreads the fragrance of its merits: for we are the good fragrance of Christ to God (II Cor. II, 15). For indeed, the good honours God, like a fragrant odor, the life of the righteous.
15. If you understand these things, you will see that this woman is very blessed, wherever this Gospel is proclaimed, her name is mentioned, and her memory will never fade away (Matthew 26:13); for she poured perfume on the head of Christ, the sweet fragrance of good morals and righteous deeds. Whoever approaches the head cannot be elevated; just as the one who is empty and swollen with the mind of carnal desires, and does not hold the head. But whoever does not hold the head of Christ should hold the feet; because the one body, joined and supplied, grows for the increase of God (Colossians 2:19).
16. The other person or departure is near to us. For we have not yet renounced our sins. Where are our tears, where are the sighs, where are the weepings? Come, let us worship and prostrate ourselves before God, and let us weep before our Lord, who made us (Psalm 94:6); so that at least we may come to the feet of Jesus. For we cannot yet come to the head, because the sinner is at the feet, the righteous at the head.
17. She has, however, the ointment which she sinned. Grant me and you also, after sin, repentance. Wherever you have heard that a righteous person has come either to the house of the unworthy or to the house of the Pharisee, strive: snatch away hospitality, snatch away the kingdom of heaven: For from the days of John the Baptist . . . the kingdom of heaven is forced, and those who force it lay hold of it (Matthew 11:12). Wherever you hear the name of Christ, hasten: knowing that Jesus has entered into the inner house of anyone, hurry there yourself. When you find wisdom, when you find justice residing in someone's innermost being, run to their feet, that is, seek the highest part of wisdom. Do not disdain their feet: that fringe touched them, and it was healed (Luke 8:44). Confess your sins with tears, and let that heavenly justice speak of you as well:
(Vers. 44.)
(Verse 44.) She washed my feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair.
And perhaps for this reason Christ did not wash his feet, so that we may wash them with our tears. Good tears, which can not only wash away our sin, but also water the heavenly Footprint of the Word, so that his steps may abound in us. Good tears, in which there is not only the redemption of sinners, but also the refreshment of the righteous, for the righteous voice says: My tears have been my bread day and night (Psalm 42:4).
19. And if you cannot approach the head of Christ, let Christ touch your head with His feet. And His garment heals, and His feet heal. Spread out your hair, lay down before Him all the dignities of your body. Not insignificant are the hairs that can wipe the feet of Christ. This is testified by him, who as long as he had hair, could not be conquered (Jud. XVI, 5 et seq.). Finally, it is not proper for a woman with her head uncovered to pray (I Cor. XI, 5). May she indeed have hairs with which she may surround Christ's footsteps, with which she may wipe her own locks of beauty and the feet of wisdom; so that at least the last drops of divine virtue may moisten them, she may fix her kisses on the feet of justice. This is not a minor merit, of which Wisdom can say:
(Vers. 45.)
(Verse 45.) Since I entered, he has not stopped kissing my feet.
20. So that he may know nothing except to speak wisdom, so that he may know nothing except to love justice, so that he may know nothing except to practice chastity, so that he may know nothing except to embrace purity. For a kiss is the sign of mutual love: a kiss is the pledge of charity.
21. (Vers. 46.) Blessed is he who can and desires to anoint the feet of Christ: for Simon had not yet anointed them. But more blessed is she who anointed them with ointment; for she spreads the various sweet fragrances of many flowers collected into one. And perhaps no one else can bear this ointment except the Church alone, which has countless flowers of different scents: which rightly receives the appearance of a sinner, since Christ also assumed the form of a sinner.
22. (Verse 47.) And therefore no one can love as much as she who loves in many. Neither Peter himself who said: Lord, you know that I love you (John 21:17). Nor Peter himself who was grieved because he was asked: Do you love me (ibid.)? For what was obvious, he did not want to be sought as if unknown. Therefore not even Peter himself, because he loved the Church in Peter. Nor Paul himself, because Paul is also his portion. And you, love very much, so that much may be pardoned to you. Paul has sinned greatly, who was also a persecutor: but he has loved greatly, who has persevered even to martyrdom. Many sins have been forgiven him; because he also loved greatly, who did not spare his own blood for the sake of God's name.