Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, C
II Sam. 12: 7-10, 13
Ps. 32
Gal. 2: 16, 19-21
Luke 7: 36-8:3
The common point for our Scriptures today is God’s forgiveness of sins. In the First Reading, King David is given the judgment of God (through Nathan the prophet) on his sin. In lusting after and taking Bathsheba, wife of his faithful retainer Uriah the Hittite, and then becoming responsible for Uriah’s death, David “spurned the Lord and did evil in His sight.” David repented of his evil deed and was forgiven. The tradition is that today’s Responsorial Psalm was written by David in thanksgiving for God’s forgiveness after this heinous crime, “I said, ‘I confess my faults to the Lord,’ and You took away the guilt of my sin.”
In the Gospel for today, Jesus encounters a sinner (the woman) and a self-righteous one (his host for dinner, Simon the Pharisee). Because the attitudes of the two are so radically divergent, Jesus tells a parable about debts being forgiven, and (unusually) proceeds to explain it in terms of the situation they were all in at the time. It should, at least parenthetically, be pointed out that today’s Gospel also gives the longest list of the women disciples who followed the Lord.
Totally gratuitous personal aside: My maternal grandparents’ parish church was the Church of the Magdalen in south St. Louis, Missouri. In the portico over one of the doors of the church, the words of today’s Gospel were carved in stone: “Many sins are forgiven her, for she has loved much.” Even as a small child, the power of these words touched my heart.
Today’s Second Reading continues the in-course reading from Galatians, giving the center of all of Paul’s preaching: “we too have believed in Jesus in order to be justified by faith in Him, not by observance of the law.” Here, too, we are pierced by the powerful statement of Paul’s own faith: “I have been crucified with Christ, and the life I live now is not my own; Christ is living in me.” His summary retains eternal relevance for all who would put systems ahead of Jesus: “If justice is available through the law, then Christ died to no purpose!”
This hymn is based on today’s Scriptures:
God spoke to David thus:
I placed in you my trust
To lead My people out of their confusion.
Your sin, before My face,
Scorns ev'ry act of grace;
Repent from evil and from sin's delusion!
While Jesus sat as guest,
Failing the stringent test
In thoughts of judgment, taught us God's compassion:
"For all this woman's love,
Grace is hers from above--
For much is granted those who love with passion!"
In Christ we are restored
To justice with the Lord--
Not by the Law but by God's grace and favor.
With Christ, we're crucified;
With Him, at God's right side
We live in faith with Jesus as our Savior.
66.11.D
suggested tune: Down Ampney
Propers from the Roman Gradual
Introit: Exaudi, Domine (Ps. 27:7-9,1)
Hearken, O Lord, unto my voice which has called out to you.
Deign to be my help.
Do not despise me, O God my Savior.
The Lord is my light and my salvation,
Whom shall I fear?
Offertory: Benedicam Dominum (Ps. 15:7-8)
I will bless the Lord who has given me understanding.
I have set the Lord always in my sight.
Since he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
Communion: Unam petii (Ps. 27:4)
One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek:
To dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
Alternate: Simile est regnum caelorum grano (Mk 4:31-32) MYM#11
(matches the Gospel in Year B)
The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard.
It is the smallest of all the seeds,
but when it grows, it becomes the largest of plants.