Daily Catholic Reflection: September 17, 2020, Thursday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time, Year A

I Corinthians 15:1-11,

Psalm 118:1-2.15c-17.28,

Luke 7:36-50 Full Readings

Saint Robert Bellarmine

 Faith and Love forgives Sins. 

In today's Gospel we see mainly two aspects: devotion and repentance, and the welcome of sinners by Jesus. On the side of Jesus, Luke always tries to portray Jesus as the friend of sinners in most of his parables. We see Jesus being invited by a Pharisee to his house and the woman with a bad name and reputation in the whole city came and started bathing the feet of Jesus with her tears, wiping them with her hair, kissing them and anointing them with the most expensive ointment. It surprised the Pharisees that Jesus whom people regarded as a prophet could not recognise how sinful that woman was. It is not that Jesus did not know how sinful that woman was, but he showed his mercy to the woman and welcomed her as a sinner for Jesus came for sinners not for righteousness. Today reflect on how willing you are to come to Jesus who is ready to welcome everyone especially sinners who return to him.

On the side of the woman who had a bad name probably of a prostitute (the western church regard her as Mary Magdalene) we see  extraordinary devotion and repentance guided by two important virtues: faith and Love. 

Firstly, the woman came with a repentant heart and a humbled heart, to Jesus with great faith and trusting that Jesus will forgive her sins and indeed she was forgiven. In the Jewish community every misfortune, disease, bad names were all caused by sin either personal or family sin. And so the only way to heal and return the dignity of a person was through being forgiven which was done only by God. Jesus however forgave the sins of people and healed them of all their diseases and illnesses which of course was a scandal to the Pharisees. The force which Jesus used in forgiving sins was love but also faith. That's why after healing the person, he would say "your faith has healed you."  Reflect today on how deep your faith is. Is it able to bring forgiveness of your sins? Remember this faith must be in action like that of the woman. We don't hear any of her words but only action. 

Secondly, love also brings healing and forgiveness. True love makes us do extraordinary acts in the name and for the sake of Jesus. The woman did something a Jewish woman would never do in public. She loosened her hair and anointed Jesus with her tears. It was customary for a woman on her wedding day to bind her hair. For a married woman to loosen her hair in public was a sign of grave immodesty. This woman was oblivious to all around her, except for Jesus.

Love gives all the best we have. She also did something which only love can do. She took the most precious thing she had and spent it all on Jesus. Her love was not calculated but extravagant. In a spirit of humility and heart-felt repentance, she lavishly served the one who showed her the mercy and kindness of God. Jesus, in his customary fashion, never lost the opportunity to draw a lesson from such a deed. Do we have such extraordinary love and actions which we show to Jesus for our sins to be forgiven and a sign of gratitude for having been forgiven. 

As Christians, we need these two virtues. Which faith are we talking about? It is the faith that St Paul presents to us in the first reading. It is the faith that Jesus died, died and rose from the dead in accordance with the scripture. This is the basis of our Christian faith, the first kerygmatic proclamation even before the Gospels were written, which formed the Christian community. 

The most precious element of this reading is the first traditional recital of the Good News of Christ’s death and resurrection, which the earliest Christians already saw as fulfilling the Scriptures. To witness the resurrection of Christ was the primary task of the apostles. For us, too, it is the primary task; not merely by our words, but by the way we behave, we need to live in the awareness that Christ’s resurrection after his endurance of humiliation and dreadful suffering is the basic fact of life. The basic factor in Christian faith and witness is not the empty tomb but the experience of the apostles in meeting the Risen Christ. This is what unbelievably transformed them from being a defeated and hopeless rabble, huddled in hiding, into courageous and enterprising witnesses. Are you ready to live this faith, the resurrection faith not only in words but mostly by actions both to Jesus our Lord and our neighbours? Pray for Spirit's guidance. 

Let us pray

Almighty Father, teach me every day of my life to grow more in faith and love for you, so that I'll be able to be forgiven of my sins. May these virtues help me to live for you alone. Amen 

Be blessed