1.2Sm
12:7-10.13
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2.Gal
2:16.19-21
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Gospel: Lk
7:36-8:3
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" The accusing finger"
There is a story told
of a cookie thief and a woman. It happened that a woman at the air port waiting
to catch her flight bought herself a bag of cookies, thus after buying that bag
of cookies settled herself in a chair in the airport lounge and began to read
her novel. Suddenly she noticed that a man beside her
helping himself with cookies from the cookie bag between them. Not wanting to
make the investigation, she read on, ate cookies, and watched the clock. As the
" daring cookie thief" kept on eating the cookies she got more
irritated and said to herself, " If I wasn't so nice I would blacken his eye!" with each
cookie she took he took one too. When only one was left, she wondered what he
would do. Then with a smile on his face and a nervous laugh, he took the last
cookie and broke it in half. He gave her half, and he ate the other. She
snatched it from him and said to herself, " Oh brother, this guy has some
nerve, and he is also so rude, why didn't he also show any gratitude!" She sighed with relief when
her flight was called. She gathered her belongings and then headed to the for
the gate, refusing to look at the ungrateful "thief" She boarded the
plane and sank in her seat, then reached in her bag to fetch her novel, and
what she saw made her gasp wit surprise. For there in front of her eyes were
her bag of cookies. Then it dawned on her that the cookies they ate in the
lounge was man's and not hers, that the man was not a thief but a friend who
tried to share, that she was the rude one, the ungrateful one, the thief.
Basing our minds on the
example of cookie thief we have heard, as we see in today's gospel, it often
happens that one pointing the accusing finger turns out to be the guilty one, the
complaint sometimes turns out to be the offending party. In the story as we
have heard the woman believed she was a wonderful person to put up and bear the
rudeness and ingratitude of the man sitting beside her, however in the end she
discovered that she was the rude and ungrateful one and the man was wonderfully
friendly. Likewise, in the gospel, the Pharisee thinks that he is the only one
being righteous and worthy to be in Jesus' company and that the woman was
sinful one unworthy to be seen with Jesus. In the end Jesus showed each of them
where they really belonged, finally the woman was seen as the one being righteous
than the Pharisee who justified himself to be righteous.
It is a practical
example that it is easier to hear the snoring of the other person than to hear
your own snoring. It is easier to notice the faults of other people while being
blind to our own faults. Christian maturity entails in knowing one's
limitations. People who become happy in criticizing others thereby betray their
lack of self awareness. In the end they discover that they themselves are
indeed cookie thieves that they accused
others to be. We can pose this question to ourselves today, that what was the
mistake of the Pharisee? If the woman was indeed a prostitute where then did he
err? After all what he said about the woman was true, wasn't it? obviously the
woman was a sinner. In fact Jesus did not say that the woman was not a sinner.
Jesus only said that the man was a sinner too, and in fact a worse sinner than
the woman.
I
entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my
feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from
the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my
head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell
you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great
love ( Luke 7:44-47
The challenging notion
in the gospel today is the Pharisees notion of sin and holiness. For the
Pharisee the woman was an " occasion of sin" to be avoided by godly
people. Jesus corrects him: It is not what you avoid counts, rather it is what
you do. The Pharisee might indeed have avoided occasions of sin, but he did
nothing for Jesus in need. The woman on the other hand attended and provided
the practical needs of Jesus. Jesus in the gospel scenario accepts the woman's
external show of love as the clear manifestation of inner faith: " Your faith has saved you; go in peace"(
v50). The woman's gesture really shows the practical transcendence of deeds
over the oral empty speeches. This practical engagement is the lesson for us
since it teaches us the crucial difference between the woman and the Pharisee.
The question to meditate here is that how do we employ our faith in practical
service of the needy?
What is all about
forgiveness? when we tend to think about things we have done or things done to
us, we can perhaps say and mean, " It does not matter. Forget about it. No
harm done." This is not what forgiveness means. Forgiveness is not required
when something does not matter. For example when we bump into someone
unintentionally and say, " sorry" or " forgive me", we are
simply being polite. Being polite is a good thing. However, bumping someone
intentionally is really not a matter that requires forgiveness.
Forgiveness has to do
with real harm, real pain, real loss, either suffered or inflicted, by an act
of carelessness of malevolence. It has do with an act of will- of failure to do
what we ought to have done, or doing what we ought not to have done.
Forgiveness is entailed in taking something that some has given us, something
that has cost them time and effort, love and care- when we take such a gift and
despise it or cast it aside or destroy it- then we require forgiveness.
There are three main
types of forgiveness and all are interrelated. 1. Forgiveness of God-that
assures us of our worth and strengthen us. 2. Forgiveness of others- the
forgiveness that we extend to others and receive from them, intimates and
enemies. 3. Self forgiveness- that which enables us to release our own guilt
and lack of perfection.
We can ask ourselves
many questions on this virtue of forgiveness. The question is why to forgive? first
it sets you free. Forgiveness is not all about a sense of false humility that
makes us better than somebody else, rather it is an attitude that sets us free,
so that we are not continually re-victimized by our wounds.
When we forgive we
avoid a penalty to be imposed to us for not granting forgiveness. The penalty
we experience is the hurt that remains trapped within us, which rots a portion
of our body, mind and soul daily. In order to heal ourselves of the wounds inflicted upon us we must be
willing to forgive those who hurt us, totally and unconditionally. It does not
mean that we must go and tell them that
they are forgiven.
Many people are afraid
to forgive because they feel they must remember the wrong or they will not
learn from it. The opposite is true. Through forgiveness, the wrong is released
from its emotional stranglehold on us so that we can learn from it. Through the
power and intelligence of the heart, the release of forgiveness brings expanded
intelligence to work with the situation more effectively" says McArthur.
Forgiving is good for the body as well as for the soul. Reliving past hurts over and over again
is bad for your health. Simply remembering an incident that made a person angry
has proved to be stressful for the heart. Negative feelings that cause stress
have been linked to high blood pressure, coronary artery disease and increased
susceptibility to other illnesses.
Finally let us know and
understand that forgiveness must not be selfish. If we desire to be forgiven by
others for our offenses we must learn to forgive others also. If we seek
forgiveness from God, we should learn to forgive others. If we desire that that
God overlook our weaknesses, we should learn to over look weaknesses of others.
Let us listen to the Lord's words, " If you forgive men their sins, your
heavenly Father will also forgive you your. But if you do not forgive men their
sins, neither will your Father forgive your sins" (Matthew 6:14-15)
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