Mary Magdalene.
'Then drew near all the publicans and sinners for to hear Him.'
She shows us that there is no hopeless guilt. None is so in regard to
the effects of sin on a soul. There is no heart so indurated as that
its capacity for being stirred by the divine message is killed.
There is none hopeless in regard to God.
His love embraces all, however bad. The bond which unites to Him is not
blamelessness of life but simple trust.
The grossest vice is not so thorough a barrier as self-satisfied
self-righteousness.
A thin slice of crystal will bar the entrance of air more effectually
than many folds of stuff.