by Sister Karen Cavanagh, C.S.J.
“Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof.”
We continue through these “ordinary weeks” and are vividly reminded of the extraordinary, prodigal, overflowing and compassionate healing, forgiveness and hospitality of God in Jesus’ redemptive love. We are, again, comforted with our Holy Father’s words: “… sometimes our tears are the eyeglasses through which we see Jesus.” Jesus teaches us through a cry of repentance from David, the transformation of Paul, the self-righteousness of a host and the tears of a woman.
These are accounts of graces given, of hopeless captivation by power, possessions and passions, by a fall from graces, the tears of repentance and the saving gift and graces of forgiveness and healing. This healing forgiveness becomes the power which lifts the sinner and sends him or her forth as a disciple. The only response to such amazing grace is faith – that change of heart which sets one free.
As we revisit the background of the first reading from Samuel, we see that Israel had become a powerful nation and the temptation was to pledge an allegiance, at times almost worship, to power and possession over Yahweh, the one true God and king. The same David, chosen by God, had risen to victory, success and wealth. As a monarch, he’d inherited everything but still wanted more. His hopeless captivation and passion for Bathsheba led him to adultery, to lies and to murder.
Nathan, the prophet, holds up to David the “mirror of truth,” and by God’s amazing grace, David weeps in sorrow (Psalm 32), confesses his sin and repents. God’s forgiveness and mercy overwhelm David who, in his turn, witnesses that God’s laws and moral commands are for all. In God, there is no “elite class,” no “exempt few.”
In the letter to Galatia, St. Paul brings home to the new Christian communities that the teachings and life of Jesus, in His Paschal Mystery, were about a freedom which comes with faith and fidelity to God’s ways.
This freedom is not a watered-down observance of Mosaic law but a fulfillment which comes with a refusal of a right of any power, possessions, politic or passion to rule one’s heart. Our only response to such freedom is faith. Our only response to this grace is gratitude and discipleship. St. Paul insists that our salvation and justification are found in Jesus’ actions: changing hearts, preventing death, securing life. This truth invites us to look anew at this Sunday’s Gospel.
Call to Repentence
In his book, Dining In the Kingdom of God, Eugene La Verdiere offers today’s Gospel as one more statement about Eucharist. At each Eucharist, we are called to acknowledge, to ask forgiveness and to repent of those sins and behaviors which captivate our hearts. This Gospel and its “cast” of persons speak to us of the call to repentance, the implications of that call and the challenge for our lives. It is an ongoing call to be a welcomer, to always do the hospitable thing, to place our lives at the feet and service of Christ in discipleship and to be His agent of reconciliation and unity with all others in our world today and all days.
Jesus was questioned several times during His ministry about His dinner companions. He always reminded His interrogators that His call is not to the righteous but to those who sin, to those who are burdened by self-righteousness, to those who are excluded and shunned, to those we might name “undeserving” and “other.”
It is a vivid “mirror” for me to see where I have raised an eyebrow in arrogance, where I’ve shaken my head in disbelief, where I’ve turned a shoulder or kind word away from a brother or sister. It questions me as to where I see myself: Is it in Simon who stands at a distance judging? Is it in the guests who whisper and murmur about “such a person?” Is it in the woman whose tears let her acknowledge who she is, to see clearly the One at whose feet she kneels and who, with her ointment, pours out all that had captivated her spirit?
Ever so patiently and clearly, Jesus prepares the table and sets a feast of reconciliation for her and for everyone there.
This is the meal to which we are invited and welcomed. Jesus becomes our Host and our Teacher. Jesus sets this table and welcomes us under His roof, invites us to abide with Him. It is because of His outpoured love and redemptive mercy that we come. It is Jesus Who, in turn, asks for hospitality under our roof, asks to abide in our hearts, asks for our hearts.
“But only say the word and my soul shall be healed!”[hr]
Readings for the 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time
2 Samuel 12: 7-10, 13
Psalm 32: 1-2, 5, 7, 11
Galatians 2: 16, 19-21
Luke 7: 36 – 8: 3 or
Luke 7: 36-50[hr] Sister Karen Cavanagh, C.S.J., a trained spiritual director and retreat facilitator, is a pastoral associate/family minister at St. Nicholas of Tolentine parish, Jamaica.