Suggestions about our site? Send us your Comments

Homily for the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
(June 17, 2007)

Intro: Why are there so few people who come to the Sacrament of Confession?  In today’s world are there less people who will admit they are sinners? I want to go over the stories from 2^nd Samuel and Luke’s Gospel, to focus on two things:  We need to be confronted with our sins to which we are blind.                                                                                  
                                                    On the other hand: God shows mercy in the forgiveness of sins 

I) King David had consolidated a great amount of power and usually got whatever he wanted. So one day when from the roof of his palace he looked down and saw beautiful Bethsheba bathing, even though David had a lot of wives of his own, he had Bethsheba brought to him. To cover up his sin, David had her husband brought home from the Army to be with his wife. But Uriah would not go in to his wife, so David contrived a plan to have Uriah killed in battle. Then David was able to take Bethsheba as his wife and thought he had got away with adultery and murder.
  But God sent the prophet Nathan, who said to David: Judge this case for me. There were two men. The rich man had flocks and herds in abundance. All the poor man had was one little lamb, which he loved very much. Now when the rich man had a visitor instead of taking one of his lambs, he took and slaughtered the poor man’s little lamb and made a meal of it for his visitor. David grew very angry and shouted: That man deserves death! Who is that man?
Then Nathan responded:  “ You are the man!”  Thus says the Lord: I anointed you the king of Israel . But that was not enough for you.  You have spurned the Lord and done what is evil. You not only took the wife of Uriah, but you took his life.

II) Another way that we avoid facing our sins is to project our sins onto others. The other side in a war is usually cast being a godless nation. Or in an argument it is the other person who is not really listening.  In the Gospel Simon looks at the woman making such a fuss over Jesus and wonders: Doesn’t he know what kind of woman this is?
    Just as Nathan confronted David, Jesus confronts Simon: Simon I have something to say to you. What kind of woman is this? Jesus points out her overflowing love and contrasts that  with what kind of man Simon shows himself to be – a man sadly lacking in charity: You did not give me water to wash my feet (normal hospitality for dusty roads in sandals) – she bathed them with my tears.  You did not greet me with a kiss, but she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil – but she has anointed my feet with ointment.      Simon is left standing there with rash judgment all over his face, while Jesus forgives the sinful woman all her sins because she has loved much. 

Baptism: In the early church, Baptism was the primary sacrament of forgiveness. Note the baptismal images: Not a bath of water, but she washes Jesus feet with her tears. The anointing afterward. The Kiss – related to the Kiss of peace. Jesus proclaims: “Your sins are forgiven.”   And “Your faith has saved you.”  In Baptism we find salvation and forgiveness of sins – as sinners who have been forgiven much we are called to love Jesus with exuberant love 

Concl: If Jesus was showing love to Simon, and Nathan was doing David a service by naming his sins, there could come a time when God calls you to be a prophet to help a friend or church leaders or our nations leaders see the sins they have been denying. But please don’t all come up to me after mass. And remember that naming others sins works best only if we are in touch with our own sins.