September 16, 2004 - Thursday, 24th Week in Ordinary Time
STS. CORNELIUS, POPE and CYPRIAN, Bishop, Martyrs

FORGIVING ENCOUNTER

Readings:
1 Cor 15:1-11; Ps 118:1b – 2, 16ab –17, 28; Lk 7:36-50

Introduction

Cornelius and Cyprian, the first a pope, the second a bishop, both asserted the freedom to spread the message of Christ and both paid with their lives for their courage. To them, Christ was worth living for and therefore worth dying for. They preferred their inner freedom, for which Christ had paid the price, to freedom from bodily harm; they witnessed to the right of people to be free from all oppression.

Opening Prayer

Lord our God,
your Son Jesus Christ gave himself totally
for the sake of those he loved - that is for all.
Like him, Saints Cornelius and Cyprian
gave themselves for their flock.
Give us a bit of this unselfish love,
that we too may learn
that there is more in giving ourselves
than in receiving honor and favors.
May the Spirit make us also so much one
that we graciously share with one another
our God-given riches and gifts.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Liturgy of the Word

First Reading Introduction:
       The core of the good news that Paul brings to the Corinthians is the resurrection of Jesus. Paul insists, because Greeks do not easily accept this truth. For Christians the resurrection means life more than a dogma; it means hope and a great future.

First Reading: 1 Cor 15:1–11

I am reminding you, brothers and sisters, of the Gospel I
preached to you, which you indeed received and in which you also stand.
Through it you are also being saved, if you hold
fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also
received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the
Scriptures; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third
day in accordance with the Scriptures; that he appeared to
Cephas, then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more
than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still
living, though some have fallen asleep. After that he appeared
to James, then to all the Apostles. Last of all, as to one born
abnormally, he appeared to me. For I am the least of the
Apostles, not fit to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted
the Church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am,
and his grace to me has not been ineffective. Indeed, I have
toiled harder than all of them; not I, however, but the grace of
God that is with me. Therefore, whether it be I or they, so we
preach and so you believed.

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 118:1b – 2, 16ab –17, 28

R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
Let the house of Israel say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

“The right hand of the LORD is exalted;
the right hand of the LORD has struck with power.”
I shall not die, but live,
and declare the works of the LORD.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

You are my God, and I give thanks to you;
O my God, I extol you.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

Gospel Introduction:
      A woman with a bad reputation, which she apparently deserved, comes to Jesus and shows in a rather extravagant way that something in her cries out for a purer kind of love than she had experienced in life. Her encounter with Jesus in faith and love led to forgiveness, to the scandal of the good practicing people. For us too, Jesus' encounter with us is always forgiving.

Gospel Reading: Lk 7:36-50

One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to share his meal, so he went to the Pharisee's home and as usual reclined on the sofa to eat. And it happened that a woman of this town, who was known as a sinner, heard that he was in the Pharisee's house. She brought a precious jar of perfume and stood behind him at his feet, weeping. She wet his feet with tears, she dried them with her hair and kissed his feet and poured the perfume on them.

The Pharisee who had invited Jesus was watching and thought, "If this man were a prophet, he would know what sort of person is touching him; isn't this woman a sinner?"

Then Jesus spoke to the Pharisee and said, "Simon, I have something to ask you." He answered, "Speak, master." And Jesus said, "Two people were in debt to the same creditor. One owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other fifty. As they were unable to pay him back, he graciously canceled the debts of both. Now, which of them will love him more?"

Simon answered, "The one, I suppose, who was forgiven more." And Jesus said, "You are right." And turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? You gave me no water for my feet when I entered your house, but she has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You didn't welcome me with a kiss, but she has not stopped kissing my feet since she came in. You provided no oil for my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. This is why, I tell you, her sins, her many sins, are forgiven, because of her great love. But the one who is forgiven little, has little love."

Then Jesus said to the woman, "Your sins are forgiven." The others sitting with him at the table began to wonder, "Now this man claims to forgive sins!" But Jesus again spoke to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

Commentary

IT was probably to get a better look at him that Simon the Pharisee invited Jesus to a meal. He omitted all the normal courtesies for receiving a guest. When you invited a Rabbi to your house, it was normal to place your hand on his shoulder and give him the kiss of peace, to bathe his feet (it is a very dusty country), and to burn a grain of incense or put a drop of attar of roses on his head. Simon the Pharisee had done none of these things on receiving Jesus into his house, and this must have been a pointed discourtesy.

There is great irony in the fact that, without knowing it, a woman of the streets paid him the very courtesies that his host had so rudely omitted. Meanwhile Simon thought to himself, "If this man were a prophet." Simon's thought was so conventional that it wasn't thought at all. A prophet might be expected to surprise people and jolt them out of their fixed minds. But for Simon, a prophet would be someone who pried into people's hearts in order to judge and condemn them-just as the Pharisees did! A prophet would be someone who kept the line of division clear: sinner/saint. He wasn't ready and he couldn't imagine a Messiah who would "welcome sinners and eat with them."

Intentions

- That the community of God's people may be a source of peace, of forgiveness and reconciliation, of new opportunities for tomorrow, we pray:

- That we may be gentle in our judgment of others, aware that every day anew we too are we in need of forgiveness, we pray:

- That in our families and communities we may be attentive to the good that is done and not be discouraged by each other's shortcomings, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

God of our happiness,
with our human wisdom
we seek happiness without pain,
glory without sacrifice.
But in your divine wisdom,
or foolishness as Paul calls it,
give us here your Son Jesus Christ
to teach us again the value of the cross.
With Mary we want to serve him
who is our Lord who died an rose again,
and our Savior for ever.

Prayer after Communion

Our living and loving God,
in this holy meal we have celebrated
the death and resurrection of Jesus, your Son
and proclaimed suffering and death
as a painful, but necessary way
to lasting glory an happiness.
Let this eucharist be our strength
to carry the burdens of life
and to learn from Mary
to stand by the side of all
in whom suffers your Son and hers,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Blessing

The words of Jesus have been spoken to us too, "Your sins are forgiven." May it be said of us too that we show great love, both of God and of people. May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

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