This weekend, June 11th and 12th, all
three readings at Mass have the same theme: God’s forgiveness. In the first
reading, the prophet Nathan confronted King David. David had done a couple of rather
nasty things recently. First, he committed adultery; then, in an attempt to
cover it up, he committed murder.
When David humbly confessed his sins,
Nathan said, “The Lord on his part has forgiven your sin: you shall not die.”
In the second reading, from his letter
to the Galatians, St. Paul explained that we cannot earn God’s love. However,
if we trust in God’s love through faith we will be justified.
Finally, in the gospel reading, Jesus
was dining at the home of a prominent Pharisee named Simon. As they ate, a
sinful women came into the dining room, probably right in the middle of their
Buffalo wing appetizers, and she went over to Jesus. The woman began to weep,
and washed Jesus’ feet with her tears.
The other dinner guests were horrified.
“If this man were a prophet,” Simon said to himself regarding Jesus, “he would
know…that she is a sinner.”
Jesus, of course, quickly turned the
tables on the self-righteous Pharisee. He pointed out that the sinful woman had
treated Jesus much more graciously than had Simon. Jesus then said, “So I tell
you, her many sins have been forgiven because she has shown great love.”
The main lesson this week is God’s
love and forgiveness. No matter how badly we’ve sinned, no matter how selfishly
and cruelly we’ve behaved, if we genuinely repent and ask for forgiveness, God
will forgive us. Wow, how great is that?
There is, however, a secondary lesson
this week that we should not overlook. Although God most certainly forgives us
of our sins, when we do sin, very often there are severe consequences. In the
first reading God forgave David. But speaking through the prophet Nathan, God
also said, “Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house.”
David’s sins had earthly consequences,
and in fact from that time on, his family was a mess. There were hatreds and
betrayals and murders for many generations after David. The culmination came
when the entire kingdom was torn in two, split into the Northern kingdom of
Israel and the Southern kingdom of Judah. From the moment David committed those
terrible sins, there was no peace in his life or in the lives of his
descendants.
In our lives the same principle holds
true. If we commit a sin, say, driving under the influence, God certainly will
forgive us if we sincerely repent. But if we get arrested, we have to pay the
price. And if, God forbid, we kill somebody while driving drunk, we have to pay
a huge price (although not nearly as huge as the price paid by the innocent
victim). By the way, even if we don’t get caught, there still is a steep price
to pay for abusing alcohol, in the form of damaged relationships, poor work
performance, financial problems, health issues, etc.
Just like King David, our sins can
harm us and our descendants. Think of the example I’m using, the irresponsible
use of alcohol. We all know families that have been devastated by booze. Not
only can it wreck the drinker’s life, it can cause severe problems for his or
her family for many generations. The same things can happen with other sins:
adultery, dishonesty, theft, laziness, rooting for the Yankees, you name it.
It’s great to know that God will
forgive us, no matter what terrible things we’ve done. But it certainly is best
not to do those terrible things in the first place. Yes, we still can receive
eternal life in Heaven when we repent, but sometimes the consequences of our
sin can be Hell on earth, for us and our loved ones and all of society.
No comments:
Post a Comment