My Seven-Minute-Homily, June 16.2013
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
Second Book of Samuel 12.7-10. 13; Letter of St. Paul to the Galatians 2.16, 19-21
and the Gospel of St. Luke 7.36-8.3
Today’s scriptures tell us that God is the only one who can forgive our sins. When Jesus said to the woman in the Gospel ‘your sins are forgiven’! Jesus wants to affirm that: He is God. The Gospel teaches us that: Don’t make ourselves better than others, our task is to believe. When we believe, God transforms us. It is not by our deeds or actions or good works that we are saved, but by believing in Jesus Christ as Lord.
The first reading, from the Second Book of Samuel, tells us the story of King David. King David is a full human being, with lots of desires and lusts and incredibly energy to serve the Lord. His love for God does not stop him from sinning. One day, while David was walking about on the roof of the King's house, he saw a woman bathing. Failing to control his eyes, the sin of lust struck David to the heart. He sent someone to inquire as to who was the woman. The person reported that the woman was Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. So David sent messengers to get her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. He committed the grave sin of adultery and Bathsheba became pregnant.
Having already severed his relationship with God, David did not stop there. Desiring Bathsheba for himself, he caused the death of Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba. When Uriah was killed, after having been placed in an extreme dangerous position during battle at the order of David, David brought Bathsheba to his house, married her, and she bore him a son.
Now the Lord God, He Who is all-knowing, was not blind to the lustful and murderous actions of David. God sent the prophet Nathan to pronounce judgment upon David. Because David repented of his sins, they were forgiven. King David is a wonderful example of repentance for all of us. Through today's First Reading, we learn that if an individual sincerely repents of his sins, God can and will forgive him of all his sins, even those of adultery and murder. God always seeks to call us back to faithfulness and fidelity to Him. Such is manifested by the grace of God. Without it, we could never repent and reconcile with God when we sin.
The Gospel gives us the same lesson. The Gospel began with a Pharisee inviting Jesus to eat with him at his house. In consideration of the fact that the Pharisees usually displayed animosity towards Jesus, it was courageous for this one Pharisee to show hospitality by inviting Jesus to dinner. A sinful woman appears in the scene. She anointed the feet of Jesus. She poured out a lot of tears of repentance. Then she wiped away with her long hair. Completely overcome, she repeatedly kissed his feet.
While Simon silently condemns Jesus for not divining the character of the woman, Jesus proves Himself to be a prophet by reading the secret thoughts of Simon. Jesus then presented the parable of the two debtors to Simon, asking him, which person loved the creditor the greater, the one who owed five hundred denarii or the one who only owed fifty.
Comparing this parable to the woman, Jesus said, "Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." The verse "She has shown great love" has been a classic text for showing that perfect charity has the power of forgiving sins. The woman loved Jesus because her sins were forgiven, not that "she was forgiven because she loved Jesus."
Jesus makes it clear that great love springs from a heart that is forgiven and cleansed. During the Gospel Reading, it was noticed that Jesus neither judged, nor rebuked the woman as the Pharisee expected. Instead, He welcomed her. This approach goes against the ways of the world; we are asked to model love instead of judging, to welcome instead of rejecting. Every one of us, we will make mistakes and we will sin, but we trust completely in the Lord Jesus Christ. God saves us. God loves us. God invites us to eternal life. Let us live and walk in the way of the Lord. This week, let us examine our hearts. Do we love Jesus enough so that we could avoid doing sin or do we say that “I love you very much, Jesus, but I am so weak to avoid temptation and commit sins!” It is very true with human being. The love of God in us is still here but we also commit sin every day.
Oremus: O Lord Jesus, come to us. Give us your divine strength so that we could avoid doing sin. You are very holy. You cannot accept sin, but you love us, sinners. Please make us love you more so that we would do sin less. Amen.
Father Great Rice
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
Second Book of Samuel 12.7-10. 13; Letter of St. Paul to the Galatians 2.16, 19-21
and the Gospel of St. Luke 7.36-8.3
Today’s scriptures tell us that God is the only one who can forgive our sins. When Jesus said to the woman in the Gospel ‘your sins are forgiven’! Jesus wants to affirm that: He is God. The Gospel teaches us that: Don’t make ourselves better than others, our task is to believe. When we believe, God transforms us. It is not by our deeds or actions or good works that we are saved, but by believing in Jesus Christ as Lord.
The first reading, from the Second Book of Samuel, tells us the story of King David. King David is a full human being, with lots of desires and lusts and incredibly energy to serve the Lord. His love for God does not stop him from sinning. One day, while David was walking about on the roof of the King's house, he saw a woman bathing. Failing to control his eyes, the sin of lust struck David to the heart. He sent someone to inquire as to who was the woman. The person reported that the woman was Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. So David sent messengers to get her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. He committed the grave sin of adultery and Bathsheba became pregnant.
Having already severed his relationship with God, David did not stop there. Desiring Bathsheba for himself, he caused the death of Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba. When Uriah was killed, after having been placed in an extreme dangerous position during battle at the order of David, David brought Bathsheba to his house, married her, and she bore him a son.
Now the Lord God, He Who is all-knowing, was not blind to the lustful and murderous actions of David. God sent the prophet Nathan to pronounce judgment upon David. Because David repented of his sins, they were forgiven. King David is a wonderful example of repentance for all of us. Through today's First Reading, we learn that if an individual sincerely repents of his sins, God can and will forgive him of all his sins, even those of adultery and murder. God always seeks to call us back to faithfulness and fidelity to Him. Such is manifested by the grace of God. Without it, we could never repent and reconcile with God when we sin.
The Gospel gives us the same lesson. The Gospel began with a Pharisee inviting Jesus to eat with him at his house. In consideration of the fact that the Pharisees usually displayed animosity towards Jesus, it was courageous for this one Pharisee to show hospitality by inviting Jesus to dinner. A sinful woman appears in the scene. She anointed the feet of Jesus. She poured out a lot of tears of repentance. Then she wiped away with her long hair. Completely overcome, she repeatedly kissed his feet.
While Simon silently condemns Jesus for not divining the character of the woman, Jesus proves Himself to be a prophet by reading the secret thoughts of Simon. Jesus then presented the parable of the two debtors to Simon, asking him, which person loved the creditor the greater, the one who owed five hundred denarii or the one who only owed fifty.
Comparing this parable to the woman, Jesus said, "Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." The verse "She has shown great love" has been a classic text for showing that perfect charity has the power of forgiving sins. The woman loved Jesus because her sins were forgiven, not that "she was forgiven because she loved Jesus."
Jesus makes it clear that great love springs from a heart that is forgiven and cleansed. During the Gospel Reading, it was noticed that Jesus neither judged, nor rebuked the woman as the Pharisee expected. Instead, He welcomed her. This approach goes against the ways of the world; we are asked to model love instead of judging, to welcome instead of rejecting. Every one of us, we will make mistakes and we will sin, but we trust completely in the Lord Jesus Christ. God saves us. God loves us. God invites us to eternal life. Let us live and walk in the way of the Lord. This week, let us examine our hearts. Do we love Jesus enough so that we could avoid doing sin or do we say that “I love you very much, Jesus, but I am so weak to avoid temptation and commit sins!” It is very true with human being. The love of God in us is still here but we also commit sin every day.
Oremus: O Lord Jesus, come to us. Give us your divine strength so that we could avoid doing sin. You are very holy. You cannot accept sin, but you love us, sinners. Please make us love you more so that we would do sin less. Amen.
Father Great Rice