LEAVING OUR OLD
WAYS
God began by forgiving us, and He invites us all to forgive
each other
"Your sins are
forgiven" (Lk 7:48). We are in Ordinary Time and the Gospel readings
return to Luke with a story of amazing forgiveness. In our first reading from
the Second Book of Samuel, we hear a similarly remarkable story. Two clearly
guilty people, David and the "sinful woman," found God's mercy. To
understand what happened to them, turn to St.
Paul's words to the Galations. His testimony of being
justified not by "the law" but by "faith" retraced his own
journey of conversion, finding salvation by leaving his old and sinful ways, to
believing in Jesus Christ, the resurrected Messiah (cf Gal 2:16). Paul had
found a new way.
David and the woman
also found new paths. David repented after Nathan implicated him in his guilt,
and forgiveness followed immediately. The woman loved, and her sins were
already forgiven. Forgiveness is not only something we seek, but our heavenly
Father has already accomplished it through Christ Jesus. All we need to do is
accept it and respond in love. Lewis B. Smedes once wrote: "Forgiveness is
God's invention for coming to terms with a world in which despite their best
intentions, people are unfair to each other and hurt each other deeply. God
began by forgiving us, and He invites us all to forgive each other."
Our Responsorial Psalm
proclaims the blessedness of one who asks humbly and believes his fault is
removed his sins are covered. This is why we are free to admit wrongdoing. We
need to remember that it is "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of
the world" (Jn 1:29)! It's a done deal. The root meaning of forgiveness is
"to be covered." I think what makes some of us stay away from the
sacrament of confession is that we don't believe we're forgiven. Forgiveness
remains ours for the taking, and for the giving. If we're willing to receive it
from God, we may find ourselves more capable of giving it away to those who are
in need of it.
Here's a question to
ponder on today: What fuels our love? The Pharisees shunned the company of
public sinners and in so doing they neglected to give them the help they needed
to find healing and wholeness. The woman's action we heard about today in the
Gospel was motivated by one thing, and one thing only, namely, her love for
Jesus and her gratitude for forgiveness. God is gentle with us, as Jesus
demonstrated in turning the spotlight from the repentant woman to the
self-righteous Pharisees who found it difficult to see mercy at work. God loves
us much, and if we love much, so will we be forgiven.