June 13, 2010 11th Ordinary Sunday 2 Sam. 12:7-10, 13; Gal. 2:16, 19-21; Lk. 7:36-8:3 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________   Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/061310.shtml       ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________     Simon the Pharisee is shocked by the attitude of Jesus to the sinner woman. It is not the love of the woman that brings her forgiveness, but it is the forgiveness she has received that creates her love. By her love she shows that much has been forgiven her, while the lack of love in the Pharisee shows that little has been forgiven him.   Jesus declares that she is forgiven. Her state of mind, her ecstasy of love, show that something has happened to her. And nothing greater can happen to a human being than that he/she is forgiven. For forgiveness means reconciliation in spite of estrangement; it means reunion in spite of hostility; it means acceptance of those who are unacceptable, and it means reception of those who are rejected.   Forgiveness is unconditional. There is no condition whatsoever in man which would make him worthy of forgiveness. God's forgiveness is independent of anything we do, even of self-accusation and self-humiliation. Forgiveness creates repentance and this is the experience of those who have been forgiven.   Forgiveness is an answer, the divine answer, to the question implied in our existence. An answer is answer only for him who has asked, who is aware of the question. This awareness cannot be fabricated. It may be in a hidden place in our souls, covered by many strata of righteousness. It may reach our consciousness in certain moments. Or, day by day, it may fill our conscious life as well as its unconscious depths and drive us to the question to which forgiveness is the answer.   In the minds of many people the word "forgiveness" has connotations which completely contradict the way Jesus deals with the woman in our story. Many of us think of solemn acts of pardon, of release from punishment, in other words, of another act of righteousness by the righteous ones. But genuine forgiveness is participation, reunion overcoming the powers of estrangement. And only because this is so, does forgiveness make love possible. We cannot love unless we have accepted forgiveness, and the deeper our experience of forgiveness is, the greater is our love. We cannot love where we feel rejected, even if the rejection is done in righteousness. We are hostile towards that to which we belong and by which we feel judged, even if the judgment is not expressed in words.   <<   Previous: Corpus Christi  | Next: 12th Ordinary Sunday >>   Go Back to SERMONS (Year C)