A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 5, n. 29)
11th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – June 17, 2007
“Your Sins Are Forgiven …”
BIBLE READINGS
2 Sm 12:7-10, 13 // Gal 2:16, 19-21 // Lk 7:36-8:3
N.B. Series 5 of BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD: A LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY LITURGY includes a prayerful study of the Sunday liturgy of Year C from the perspective of the First Reading. For another set of reflections on the Sunday liturgy of Year C, please go to the PDDM Web Archives: WWW.PDDM.US and open Series 2.
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS
When I was old enough to understand, my mother told me this beautiful story of forgiveness. I was about two years old and the youngest in a brood of three when my father got sick of tuberculosis. Three-fourths of his lungs were gone and my mother had to take care of him full time. My mom felt she could not afford to have another baby, and when she conceived, she tried to abort the pregnancy by taking some pills. One night she had a terrible nightmare. She dreamed that two children were pursuing her with long stemmed, deadly sickles in their hands. My mom woke up trembling and sweating. The following morning she went to church and confessed to a priest. The priest, however, protracted the sacramental absolution. He advised her to do all what she could to make the baby live. My mother went directly to her friend, a nurse practitioner and asked for help. The nurse gave her vitamins and medications to promote the pregnancy. She also gently chided my mother for her lack of faith in Divine Providence. The baby in my mother’s womb survived and was brought forth. A strong, healthy and handsome boy, and very fair! Highly energetic, he would grow up and become a dentist. My mother, who was truly sorry for her lack of faith in God’s loving care and for her sinful action against life, received forgiveness for her sins. She was blessed with other children. Moreover, my father recovered from his illness and would live serenely and fruitfully for 82 years.
This Sunday’s liturgy teaches us that forgiveness entails true repentance. In the Old Testament reading (2 Sm 12:7-10, 13), we hear how the prophet Nathan, the mouthpiece of God, denounced the terrible sins of David, who had spurned the Lord and done evil in his sight. Seduced by the beauty of the wife of Uriah the Hittite, King David called for her and slept with her. When Bathsheba informed him that she was with child, he tried to hide his adulterous act and avoid suspicion by recalling his military officer Uriah from battle in order to attribute paternity to him. But the loyal soldier Uriah, who was most faithful to his military duty, refused to go home and be with his wife while his comrades were in the thick of battle. Thus the miserable “cover up” scheme of King David failed. He then concocted a murderous plot to eliminate Uriah totally. David had him killed treacherously in battle and then took the officer’s wife as his own. Indeed, King David – the chosen one of God, the hero of the people and the object of God’s grace – had sinned terribly. The intervention of a prophet was needed to make David conscious of his crime.
The threat of punishment brought David to his senses. Sufficiently chastised, David responded positively to the call to conversion by acknowledging his personal responsibility: “I have sinned against the Lord” (2 Sm 12:10). Indeed, recognizing our sin and taking responsibility for it is the first step to repentance. The key to forgiveness is taking responsibility for our evil deed and being sorry for it. We need to see our anomalous situation and resolve to turn away from our wicked ways in order to experience the gift of God’s forgiveness. Confronted by the light of truth, David finally came to his senses and experienced sincere sorrow for the awfulness and horror of his crimes. To the repentant David, the prophet Nathan communicated the gift of forgiveness from a loving and merciful God: “The Lord on his part has forgiven your sin: you shall not die” (2 Sm 12:13).
The Gospel reading (Lk 7:36-8:3) helps us to see the intimate relationship between forgiveness and the gift of love. The sinful woman who bathed Jesus’ feet with tears of repentance, dried them with her hair, kissed them with devotion, and anointed them with precious ointment expressed her profound love for Jesus, who is the font of forgiveness. She was overwhelmed with love for the one who forgives – for the one who understands – for the merciful Love in person. The divine forgiveness is always present – we just have to welcome it, respond to it and own it – for Jesus is always present to us. The loving and tender actions of the woman prove that her many sins are forgiven. Indeed, because she had embraced Jesus - God’s forgiving love made incarnate - her many sins are forgiven. The translations of the New American Bible and the Good News Bible of Lk 7:47 underline various aspects of God’s forgiving love and our relationship to that forgiving love. “Her many sins have been forgiven because she has shown great love” (NAB) underlines that forgiveness flows out from loving Jesus, the font of love. “The great love she has shown proves that her many sins have been forgiven” (GNB) underlines that in our loving deeds of Jesus and his Body the Church, forgiveness is really at work in us. Indeed, loving deeds and works of charity are indicators that we have really opened ourselves up to the divine gift of forgiveness.
The person who had been truly receptive to the divine gift of forgiveness – the sinner who had been “forgiven” – could declare with St. Paul: “I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:19b-20a). The indwelling of Jesus - God’s forgiving love made flesh - reshapes our life and penetrates our inner being. Faith in Jesus, the wellspring of salvation, and the experience of his forgiving love instill in us a new principle of living. By the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, mercy and forgiveness have been poured upon us and our life would never be the same again.
The last part of this Sunday’s Gospel reading is very significant (Lk 8:1-3). It tells us that Jesus continued to journey from one town and village to another, preaching and proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom of God. Accompanying him were the Twelve and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities, and many others who provided for them out of their resources. Contact with Jesus, the font of forgiveness, has transformed them into zealous participants in Jesus’ ministry of preaching and proclaiming the Good News. Their good deeds and charitable acts on behalf of the Kingdom prove that God’s forgiving love has transformed them and that their sins have been forgiven. Mary Magdalene, one of the recipients of divine forgiveness, has been transformed into a disciple-apostle.
PERSONAL REFLECTION
By Sue Ann Cercone
Attorney at Law
Member of Christ Lutheran Church (ECLA)
Visalia, CA-U.S.A.
(N.B. We welcome with joy the precious contribution of Sue Ann Cercone, who belongs to the Lutheran Church. Thank you, Sue, for helping us to break “the Bread of the Word”. May God bless you abundantly!)
As I have read and considered the scriptures, I have become aware of the extraordinary, even radical, nature of Jesus. His life is filled with the unexpected. The Son of God was born in a manger, not a palace. Jesus spent more time with the outcasts and sinners than he did with the “church people” of that day. Finally, our Savior forever transformed the world through his death, not through an armed revolution. Today’s gospel account is one of my favorites because it amplifies this remarkable unconventionality.
Some commentators believe that Simon the Pharisee intended to entrap, rather than to learn from or to honor Jesus. In any event, whether from forgetfulness or contempt, Simon’s treatment of Jesus as a guest in his home was totally deficient. Whichever, I am certain that Jesus was aware of Simon’s motives when he accepted the invitation to the Pharisee’s house. Moreover, Jesus used the opportunity to correct and instruct Simon through the unlikely example of the “sinful woman in the city.”
Some suppose that the woman was a notorious prostitute. However, the scriptures do not say this. Personally, I like the description of her merely as a sinner. As a sinner myself, I am able to readily identify with this woman. Jesus tells Simon to “see” this woman. I think Jesus is instructing Simon to really see her, not just a sinner, but as a living, valuable child of God.
I am comforted that Jesus values the woman as I am reminded that he values each of us. However, I am also challenged as Jesus confronts Simon. Like Simon, I find that I have loved too little. Too often I also take a narrow view of God’s blessings and of the world around me. Like Jesus, I need to live “out of the box” more.
I ask you to join me as I pray. Dearest Lord, I pray that this week you will cause each of us to really “see” with your eyes. I pray that you will give us the courage to follow your will, even if that leads us to unexpected places and requires unaccustomed actions on our part. Amen.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
A. What lessons can we derive from David’s intoxication by prosperity and his gradual decline into depravity? Are we touched by David’s acknowledgment of personal responsibility for his sins and God’s merciful response? How? What do we do when we fall into a sinful situation? Do we repent and seek out God’s forgiveness? Do we trust in the merciful love and care of God for us?
B. What insights can we derive from the “sinful woman” who had greatly loved Jesus, the forgiving Love made flesh? Do we endeavor to approach Jesus, wash his feet with tears of repentance and anoint them with the balm of love and spirit of contrition? Do we allow Jesus’ merciful love to transform us? Do we allow his compassion to make us zealous apostles of his healing love?
C. Do we put our total faith in Jesus Christ who has loved us and given himself up for us? Do we strive to be totally united and crucified with Christ to the point that we are able to say: “I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20a)?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Lord Jesus,
you offered the gift of conversion
to the adulterous and murderous King David.
You forgave the sinful woman
who washed your feet with tears of repentance
and anointed them with the balm of love and spirit of contrition.
Listen to my prayer:
forgive all my sins,
renew your love in my heart,
help me to live in perfect unity with my fellow Christians
that I may proclaim your saving power to all the world.
You are the forgiving Love of God in the flesh
and you live now and forever.
Assembly: Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“Her many sins have been forgiven because she has shown great love.” (Lk 7:47)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
A. ACTION PLAN: Pray that God’s merciful love may be experienced by those who have sinned against him and that they may open themselves up to his gift of forgiveness. Be an instrument of God’s forgiving love in the various sinful situations that challenge the Christian disciples of today, especially where there is hatred, violence, injustice, oppression, exploitation and abuse. Endeavor to celebrate the sacrament of Reconciliation more meaningfully and worthily.
B. ACTION PLAN: To help us respond more lovingly and intimately to the gift of the Lord’s forgiveness, make an effort to spend an hour in Eucharistic Adoration. Visit the PDDM WEB site (www.pddm.us) for the EUCHARISTIC ADORATION THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR (Vol. 3, n. 29): A Weekly Pastoral Tool.
Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
PIAE DISCIPULAE DIVINI MAGISTRI
SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
60 Sunset Ave., Staten Island, NY 10314
Tel. (718) 494-8597 // (718) 761-2323
Website: WWW.PDDM.US