Readings for Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 2 Sm 12:7-10, 13
Nathan the prophet comes to King David who has, in the previous chapter arranged to have the husband of Bathsheba killed in battle so he could marry her. In this passage the Lord reminds David of all the blessings he has bestowed upon him. Faced with this charge we hear David’s simple admission and repentance. In response, the prophet tells David “"The Lord on his part has forgiven your sin: you shall not die.” David is forgiven, but the consequences of his sin remain.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 32:1-2, 5, 7, 11
R. Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.
Keeping to the theme of confession and repentance, Psalm 32 proclaims our gratitude to God who alone can forgive our sins.
Reading II Gal 2:16, 19-21
In this selection of St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians, the Apostle contrasts actions that are in accord with the precepts of Mosaic Law against the interior life of faith that justifies us before God in Christ. The difference the Apostle pointed to here says that just because a person acts in accordance with the Law does not mean their faith and actions toward others places them in grace – in this instance St. Paul explains that interior faith is more important that outward acts of piety.
Gospel Lk 7:36—8:3 or 7:36-50
In St. Luke’s story about the Pardoning of the Sinful Woman, we are shown contrasting attitudes and their associated rewards. The Pharisee clearly does not believe he is a sinful person and looks with disdain on the woman who humbly washes the Lord’s feet with her tears and dries them with her hair. The Lord tells the story of the two debtors to illustrate his point that the magnitude of sin forgiven stimulates a corresponding level of gratitude and love in return.
Reflection:
Our faith has a wonderful mechanism built in. We are called at least once a week to participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in which we partake of the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Jesus. Before we received the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, we are to insure that we are in a state of grace. That means we have evaluated what we have done in the previous week and if there are thoughts or actions that have removed us from being in God’s Grace, we are to reconcile ourselves to Him through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Our scripture today reflects the idea of Reconciliation and the fact that everyone needs to come to God for forgiveness. In the reading from Second Samuel we see how Kind David, blessed with so many gifts from God became greedy and caused the death of Uriah so he would not be violating Mosaic Law when he took his wife as his own. It was exactly this kind of behavior St. Paul pointed at in his Letter to the Galatians when he said “We who know that a person is not justified by works of the law”.
In the Gospel, the Lord goes to the house of the Pharisee, Simon for a meal. It is clear from Simon’s condescension that he views the sinful woman who comes in repentance that he (Simon) views himself as a righteous person, not requiring God’s forgiveness. Jesus uses the analogy of the debtors to show him that while some debts are larger than others, all are sinners and require God’s forgiveness.
With that message clearly expressed by the Word of God today, let us reexamine our own state and rejoice in God’s loving forgiveness provided through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Pax
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 2 Sm 12:7-10, 13
Nathan the prophet comes to King David who has, in the previous chapter arranged to have the husband of Bathsheba killed in battle so he could marry her. In this passage the Lord reminds David of all the blessings he has bestowed upon him. Faced with this charge we hear David’s simple admission and repentance. In response, the prophet tells David “"The Lord on his part has forgiven your sin: you shall not die.” David is forgiven, but the consequences of his sin remain.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 32:1-2, 5, 7, 11
R. Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.
Keeping to the theme of confession and repentance, Psalm 32 proclaims our gratitude to God who alone can forgive our sins.
Reading II Gal 2:16, 19-21
In this selection of St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians, the Apostle contrasts actions that are in accord with the precepts of Mosaic Law against the interior life of faith that justifies us before God in Christ. The difference the Apostle pointed to here says that just because a person acts in accordance with the Law does not mean their faith and actions toward others places them in grace – in this instance St. Paul explains that interior faith is more important that outward acts of piety.
Gospel Lk 7:36—8:3 or 7:36-50
In St. Luke’s story about the Pardoning of the Sinful Woman, we are shown contrasting attitudes and their associated rewards. The Pharisee clearly does not believe he is a sinful person and looks with disdain on the woman who humbly washes the Lord’s feet with her tears and dries them with her hair. The Lord tells the story of the two debtors to illustrate his point that the magnitude of sin forgiven stimulates a corresponding level of gratitude and love in return.
Reflection:
Our faith has a wonderful mechanism built in. We are called at least once a week to participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in which we partake of the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Jesus. Before we received the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, we are to insure that we are in a state of grace. That means we have evaluated what we have done in the previous week and if there are thoughts or actions that have removed us from being in God’s Grace, we are to reconcile ourselves to Him through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Our scripture today reflects the idea of Reconciliation and the fact that everyone needs to come to God for forgiveness. In the reading from Second Samuel we see how Kind David, blessed with so many gifts from God became greedy and caused the death of Uriah so he would not be violating Mosaic Law when he took his wife as his own. It was exactly this kind of behavior St. Paul pointed at in his Letter to the Galatians when he said “We who know that a person is not justified by works of the law”.
In the Gospel, the Lord goes to the house of the Pharisee, Simon for a meal. It is clear from Simon’s condescension that he views the sinful woman who comes in repentance that he (Simon) views himself as a righteous person, not requiring God’s forgiveness. Jesus uses the analogy of the debtors to show him that while some debts are larger than others, all are sinners and require God’s forgiveness.
With that message clearly expressed by the Word of God today, let us reexamine our own state and rejoice in God’s loving forgiveness provided through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Pax
[1] After Links Expire
[2] The Picture used today is “Jesus anointed by the sinful woman” by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, 1851-60
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