June 16, 2013 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

Bulletin June 16, 2013 11^th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

2 Samuel 12:7-10, 13; Galatians 2:16, 19-21; Luke 7:36-50
How does God feel about my sins? What does God expect of me when I sin? Do I realize that my sins always involve others and God? The three readings today are a wonderful and special reminder to me that God is always ready to forgive. Do I feel that I don’t want to be forgiven? Do I feel that what I did wasn’t that bad? Do I forgive myself? I must always go back to the Lord and how He is teaching me and leading me through His Word.
The second book of Samuel in chapters 10-2 gives the account of David’s war with the Ammonites. They show David’s masterful leadership which is evidence in his victory over Ammon; and David even claimed the king’s crown for himself (2 Samuel 12:30). Then ‘the rest of the story’: David committed adultery with Bathsheba and then was responsible for the deliberate murder of her husband Uriah. Today’s passage is so direct and yet beautiful in a sense since Nathan the prophet rebukes David while presenting him with a large list of all the gifts David has enjoyed from God. Is David grateful? No, he ignores God and pursues his own interests as if he was responsible for all the successes and because of this he was above the law since he was ‘king’. The good point is that when Nathan confronts him, David repents and turns back to God, and God shows His mercy and forgives David. What one of my sins can be so horrible that God won’t forgive me? The answer to this is none. Do I want God to forgive me or do I just follow the temptations of the devil and give up on me or on God?
Paul is writing to the Galatians about faith in today’s reading. He says that when I and each person recognize that we are helpless before God and can do nothing on our own, we are on the verge of faith. The verge of understanding that faith is a gift from God and is my surrendering myself entirely to God. I say this so often, because I have to: it is not about me, it is about God. My life is a gift from God to be used for God. My life has been filled with an overabundance of God’s gifts. Now what am I doing with them? Am I leading others to a discovery of God’s love and mercy? If not, why not?
It is good to take the Gospel and examine its message. This dinner was either a banquet or a Sabbath meal, because those eating were reclining. Now the host must provide the three essential gestures of hospitality: the kiss of peace, the washing of hands and feet and the anointing of the head with oil. Simon the Pharisee didn’t do this to Jesus. Why, maybe he felt that like David in the first reading he was ‘too important’ or above the law, a ‘god’ to himself. The woman appears on the scene which probably indicates that it was a banquet and not a private affair. She went right to Jesus, no hesitation. Simon concludes that Jesus didn’t know she was a sinner because He didn’t do anything to stop her. She shocks and embarrasses everyone by crying on Jesus’ feet and wiping them with her hair and then anointing and kissing his feet. Simon is disgusted and Jesus adds the clincher: her sins are forgiven. Jesus tries to ‘melt’ Simon’s ungrateful judgmental heart. Did it work, Luke never responds to this. Jesus’ message is so important, “Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give Me water for My feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give Me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing My feet since the time I entered. You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with ointment. So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven because she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little. He said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ The others at table said to themselves. ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ But He said to the woman, ’Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’”
These wonderful scripture passages bring to light grave sins, in fact any sin is a grave sin because it is rejecting the love and the gifts of God and making me as the ‘be all and end all’, the judge of right and wrong. God gave the determination of sin: it is a failure to love; it is ingratitude for His gifts; it is rejecting the role God needs me to be in His plan for redemption in my world. I have to be careful; I can so easily be a David or a Simon. Neither recognized his own sin. Simon looked down on the woman as a sinner and on Jesus for His loving acceptance of her. He didn’t feel he sinned so he didn’t ask for forgiveness and as a result is not able to receive forgiveness. He is busy pointing fingers at others and never realizes that when you point a finger ‘three point back at yourself.’ David realized his blindness and repented, Simon we don’t know about.
And look who God welcomes back…each person who asks for forgiveness. No sin is greater than God’s power to forgive. I have to say this over and over. No sin is greater than God’s power to forgive. God does not look at the magnitude of the sin. God’s love is unconditional and total. As a person grows in faith each day, “God’s grace gives us the ability to acknowledge our need for forgiveness that helps us to open our hearts to receive the love and the mercy of God and be in relationship with Him.” (St. Anthony Messenger Sunday Homily Helps)
Mary Lynne Rapien concludes it this way in the St. Anthony Messenger Sunday Homily Helps, “As we approach the altar today, may we pray for forgiveness of our apparent sins and those of which we are unaware. May we pray that nothing blocks us from the love that Christ offers. May we be free to love with abandon, as did the woman in the Gospel.”
So I reflect on:

• Do my ‘little’ sins lead me to be judgmental of others? Then it’s a big reflection telling me that they really aren’t ‘little sins’ because they are making me aware of more unaware sins.
  
• Why do I feel that my sin is unforgiveable? How often do I ask God for the grace to forgive myself?
  
• If I think ‘I’m perfect’ then I come away with the attitude that I’m not a sinner. What makes me do this?
  
• The sacrament of Reconciliation consistently reminds me that I am loved and forgiven. It makes me realize that I am constantly starting over…and that I need God every moment.
  
• Do I weep for my sins?
  
• How do I deal with the danger of self-justification?