11th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle C
Prayer
Loving Father,
Through Your Son, our Divine Physician, we are reconciled to You and brought to wholeness of mind, body, and spirit. Help us to celebrate your healing and forgiving love in our lives, especially through the Sacraments of the Anointing of the Sick and Reconciliation. Amen.
Commentary
1st Reading: 2 Samuel 12:7-10, 13
We are on a six-week journey on “Forgiveness.” Our first Reading addresses this theme.
We cannot hide from God. We see this in a profound way when God challenges David to examine his conscience. Through the Prophet Nathan, David must admit to what he hoped would be hidden. However, nothing is hidden from God and David knows it.
Most of us do not have a prophet like Nathan to speak on behalf of God in order to confront our hidden sins. However, we do have a conscience and our conscience reminds us that we cannot escape the eye of God. All that is hidden will be revealed. When we respond to the voice of God through our conscience, we are invited to admit our sins.
Only after we admit our sins does healing and reconciliation begin. Thankfully, we have a generous God who gives us ample opportunities to face our sins head-on and then ask for forgiveness.
Question:
Has your conscience ever challenged you to admit a sin that you hoped would remain hidden?
2nd Reading: Galatians 2:16, 19-21
Many people will avoid the Sacrament of Reconciliation out of embarrassment. Many of those who are embarrassed do not want to lose their pride. False pride puts a person in a position to fix things on his/her own. An individual may say, “I’ll go to confession after I get my life in order.” However, the point of confession is for God to get our life in order.
The point of St. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians is to recognize that the grace of God is a gift and a gift cannot be earned. Appealing to the laws or precepts to rectify my sins is not the way to get my life in order. Rather, relying on the unearned grace of God through Jesus is the way to wholeness.
The beauty of the Sacrament of Reconciliation is the opportunity to stand before God admitting that we are sinners and then allowing God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness to penetrate our hearts and souls and bring us home.
Question:
Are you a person who would prefer to fix your own mistakes rather than rely on the help of God or others?
Gospel: Luke 7:36-8:3
The woman in our Gospel never actually requests to have her sins forgiven. However, her actions imply that she is truly remorseful. Bathing the Lord’s feet with her tears is an incredible act of humility and her un-invited action is an act of bravery. She is willing to be humiliated before the crowd in order to seek the Lord’s attention.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is not for the weak. Those who choose to bare their souls before a priest is truly admirable. Whether a person comes to confession after 20 years or on a weekly basis to confront their on-going demons, placing himself or herself in a humble position as a confessed sinner is truly brave.
Some believe that such an action is not necessary. Some believe they can go directly to God with their
sins. While, in extraordinary cases, a good act of contrition before God will suffice — especially if one is about to die — in ordinary cases, we are challenged to humble ourselves before a representative of Christ and the Church and confess our sins. The reward for our bravery is great! When we step out in faith and reveal our soul, we trust that what Jesus said to the woman, he says to us, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Question:
What rewards have you gained from confessing your sins?
This Week’s Task
Pope Francis has reminded us more than once that God’s mercy can never be exhausted. Take time to reflect on the Lord’s mercy this week. Ask yourself, “Is their a sin in my past that I believe God cannot forgive?” If you struggle to answer that question, perhaps you should ask a priest for some spiritual guidance.
Group Prayer
The group prays together the Act of Contrition:
O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you, and I detest all my sins, because of Your just
punishments, but most of all because they offend You, my God, who are all- good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin.
The prayer continues with Psalm 32
Psalm
Response: Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.
Blessed is the one whose fault is taken away,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt,
in whose spirit there is no guile.
R. Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.
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. Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.
You are my shelter;
from distress you will preserve me;
with glad cries of freedom you will ring me round.
R. Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.
Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you just;
exult, all you upright of heart.