We do not know her name or what motivated her to do what she did. We only know that she was a sinner, and though the gospel does not go so far as to identify her sin, we can guess as to what that means. But the fact that we don't know her name is no matter. What matters is that on that day, she taught through her actions a valuable lesson about the Kingdom of God.

Following Christ really isn't about being religious. At least not if we think of religion as something we do, hoping that it will encourage God to put something in the plus column of our cosmic checking account! In Jesus' day, this was difficult for some people to understand, much less agree with - especially the Pharisees, who were among the most religiously zealous and observant forms of Judaism.

What's really going on is that this is God's world and there is so very much to celebrate in it - joy and wonder and incredible beauty and the miracle of  people being made whole again.  But there is also, here in God's world, too much that is ungodly - far too much hate and fear and separation.  The struggle for justice and for full participation in the blessings of creation for gay and lesbian people is part of a larger struggle - the struggle for justice and inclusion for all people.