June 12, 2016

June 12, 2016
11th Sunday in Ordinary Time C
2 Samuel 12: 7-10, 13; Galatians 2: 16, 19-21; Luke 7: 36 - 8: 3
What is the hardest thing for me to do? Looking back at my life I would say that it has to do with my
judging others…also in forgiving what I felt were injustices to me…and probably most importantly
forgiving myself when I continue to find myself lost in my own patterns of sin. Today’s readings and
especially the Gospel help me with these and most of all the amazing discovery in the Gospel
concerning my own tendency of ‘assuming.’
King David and Nathan are the central figures in the first reading. God has made David the king of
Israel. God has rescued him from King Saul’s schemes to kill him. God has made it possible for David to have an elaborate royal place plus all the gifts and privileges that come with his position as king. By bringing about the death of his officer Uriah and claiming Uriah’s wife as his own David has shown a total lack of gratitude for all God has done for him. Just before today’s passage Nathan told David of his sins by giving him a ‘story’ to solve. He said there were two men, one very rich and the other totally poor. The rich man had a great number of flocks and herds. However he had quests coming and went to the poor man and took his one little ewe lamb to feed his guests. David was furious and said, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this merits death! He shall restore their ewe lamb fourfold because he has done this and has had no pity. Then Nathan said to David: “You are the man.” God gave you all and you have done evil and David admitted his sins and God forgave him. Just as God forgives me each time I sin.
Do I not trust that God can do this? Why do I hold on to my sins and feel that I’m so horrible I cannot
forgive myself…yet God forgives me. Living the Word, Scripture Reflections and Commentaries for
Sundays and Holy Days says, “Have you seen the bumper sticker ‘Christians aren’t perfect, they’re forgiven’?

Jesus’ death and resurrection have opened the door to God’s forgiveness, whether our sin is great or small. Yet,we spend so much time living as if we are unforgiveable. What a difference it makes to admit that we are sinners, turn to God, name our sin, and receive that mercy.”

Why do I do this? Why do I get caught in the same feeing that I’m so horrible and unloveable because of my sins? Is this how the devil keeps me from realizing that I am loved just the way I am…even in my sins? We return to the text and see that David readily admitted his sin. He didn’t make excuses, he didn’t look out for his own interests, he didn’t try to cover up his guilt. He admitted he was a sinner. Msgr Eugene Lauer in Sunday Morning Insights says this, “In the face of this overwhelming human tendency, King David’s behavior in the first reading this Sunday from the Second Book of Samuel is extraordinary, indeed singular. To the charges made against him by the prophet Nathan, David does not hedge. He offers no excuses, makes no attempt to down play the grievousness of what he had done. ‘I have sinned against God’ is his simple reply. There is
something terribly courageous about such an admission. There is something wonderfully cleansing about it too. To be able to confess responsibility for an evil action is to taste reality without an anesthetic—painful but usually healing. Note the conclusion to the reading. After David’s admirable confession, the prophet responds without hesitation: ‘God…has forgiven your sins…’ God admires authentic people. God wants to forgive us, but our excuses often block the way for the divine healing presence. “
So why do I block God’s healing graces?
Maybe it’s because I want to point the finger and somehow convince myself or others that ‘I’m not that bad… OR is it maybe that I just don’t want to forgive…I want to ‘hang on’ to how I have been
mistreated and ‘lay a heavy’ on someone else. Jesus directly responds to this in the Gospel today and
helps me see the ‘light’. We have heard this story many times and we have a great deal of admiration for the courageousness of the woman to barge in and confront Jesus with her sorrow by washing His feet with expensive ointment and her tears. We listen to Jesus words and see how observant He was and how He encountered the Pharisee on his lack of hospitality. Even more Jesus directly concluded that “So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven because she has shown great love. Bu the one to whom little is forgiven,loves little.” And Jesus concludes, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Now we have all read this and should realize that the message Jesus delivers is for each of us. But the passage continues…
Luke continues on with the three more verses that begin chapter eight. Why did he do this? It’s another chapter, and a totally different topic, which I originally felt had no significance with today’s gospel. But it does. WHEN Luke and the evangelists wrote their gospels they had no division into chapters andverses….They just wrote….So one verse followed right on to the one before. Now these next verses continues on with Jesus journeying to other places. He shares with us, his readers the people who came with Jesus, more than likely women who were ‘of mean’s who could pay for many of the bills that came up concerning maybe lodging and most definitely food, etc. The very first woman that he names is “Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out…” NOW for years I identified this ‘MARY’ with the one who had washed Jesus feet. THIS IS NOT TRUE. As Living the Word states.“The Gospel passage requires careful and attentive reading. First, the story of the woman who anoints Jesus is told in slightly different ways in the other Gospels. Luke places the story during the Galilean ministry of Jesus, while Mathew, Mark and John set the encounter in Bethany during Jesus’ time in Jerusalem. (Matthew 26; 6-13; Mark 14: 3-9; John 12: 1-8) . Immediately after the anointing episode, Luke recounts that several women travelled with
Jesus and provided for them out of their resources’ Luke 8:3). In other words, these women bankrolled the itinerant preaching ministry of Jesus and the disciples. Because of the proximity of the anointing episode with the depiction of the women who accompany Jesus, the woman known in the city to be a sinner was confused with Mary Magdalene. However, Luke clearly distinguishes the episodes, so the later depictions of Mary Magdalene as a sinner (i.e., a prostitute) are inaccurate.” I HAD ASSUMED that the woman who washed the feet was Mary Magdalene. I had even judged her to be a sinner and her sin was prostitution. So long ago they told me ASSUME means I make a ‘Ass of U and Me’. Why do I have a need to judge? Don’t I realize that God judges me on love which is the way I want to be judged? So I reflect on:
• A time when I have experienced God’s forgiveness as clearly as did the woman in today’s Gospel.
• What helps me accept God’s mercy and share it with others?
• As I look back over my life, what has been my greatest sin? What helped move me to repentance?

Was I in touch with the enormity of God’s love?
Sacred Space 2016 helps me today:“Simon had life mapped out: he had decided who deserved his attention and how they might be honored. He invited Jesus as guest but withheld courtesy; he was prepared to listen to the words of Jesus but not ready to receive them in his heart. I ask God to help me, as I review my life, to recognize and remove any ways in which I resist God’s Word.
The Pharisee is surprised and shocked when Jesus allows a sinner to touch Him. He has yet to understand that Jesus welcomes and heals sinners. But he does not think of himself as in need of healing. Did he perhaps reflect later over this incident and learn something? All sinners have a future—Lord, let me never despair of myself, since you do not do so. Forgiveness is for all, and the greater the need the more generous is God’s response.”