Today's Mass Readings - Sunday, June 16, 2014 with Reflection

1^ST READING - 2 Samuel 12:7-10, 13

7 Nathan said to David: “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king of Israel. I rescued you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave you your Lord’s house and your Lord’s wives for your own. I gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were not enough, I could count up for you still more. 9Why have you spurned the Lord and done evil in his sight? You have cut down Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you took his wife as your own, and him you killed with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah to be your wife.’’’ 13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan answered David: “The Lord on his part has forgiven your sin: you shall not die.”

P S A L M - Psalm 32:1-2, 5, 7, 11

R: Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.

1 Blessed is he whose fault is taken away, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed the man to whom the Lord imputes not guilt, in whose spirit there is no guile. (R) 5 I acknowledged my sin to you, my guilt I covered not. I said, “I confess my faults to the Lord,” and you took away the guilt of my sin. (R)7 You are my shelter; from distress you will preserve me; with glad cries of freedom you will ring me round. (R) 11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you just; exult, all you upright of heart. (R)

2^ND READING - Galatians 2:16, 19-21

16 Brothers and sisters: We who know that a person is not justified by works of the Law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. 19 For through the Law I died to the Law, that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ; 20 yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God; for ifjustification comes through the Law, then Christ died for nothing.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

God loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.

Luke 7:36-8:3

36 A Pharisee invited Jesus to dine with him, and he entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. 37 Now there was a sinful woman in the city who learned that he was at table in the house of the Pharisee. Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 she stood behind him at his feet weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment. 39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.” 40 Jesus said to him in reply, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Tell me, teacher,” he said. 41 “Two people were in debt to a certain creditor; one owed five hundred days’ wages and the other owed fifty. 42Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both. Which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon said in reply, “The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven.” He said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment. 47 So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” 48 He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 The others at table said to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” 50 But Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” 8:1 Afterward he journeyed from one town and village to another, preaching and proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom of God.  Accompanying him were the Twelve 2 and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their resources.

SABBATH

TELLING IT LIKE IT IS A very old book that touched me deeply as a greenhorn in college was entitled That Man Is You by Michel Quoist. The whole book was based on this exchange between Nathan and David, where the latter was confronted with the truth: “You are the man!” I remember feeling convicted as I read and re-read the pages of the book. Like in his other books, Michel Quoist was hitting homeruns with his well-chosen lines.        I remember, many years ago, inviting the city mayor to an important event in the school where I was rector. Without being explicitly told to make a speech, he somehow found his way to the podium, grabbed the microphone, and gave an impromptu speech that lasted unbearably long. At the end of the bombastic speech, the only question that everyone had was: “What did he say?” (“Ano raw?”) He talked much, but he really did not tell us anything.        This Sunday’s readings are not about talking, but about telling it like it is. It is about naming the sin and naming the sinner: “That man is you, David,” hollered Nathan. But the best part is this. David himself named it. He claimed it. And that was what he needed to tame it. It is called acceptance, which eventually paved the way for repentance.        The sinful woman in the Gospel did not talk at all. But her actions spoke louder than words. She communicated sorrow and repentance. She cried and poured out copious tears at the Lord’s feet and proceeded to wipe them dry with her hair. Everyone in the room must have bated their breath so as not to miss any detail in this unfolding drama — the very same drama that we all live on a daily basis, given the fact that the just man sins seven times a day.        Jesus told her like it is — He named it clearly. “Your sins are forgiven. And this is called grace.” Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Do you tend to talk much but not talk straight? Do you also tend to justify your actions instead of being responsible for them? Teach me, Lord, to name my sins and claim them as my own, so that I could tame them and repent of them genuinely.

St. John Francis Regis, pray for us.

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