Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Do you remember as a child displeasing or disappointing a parent or teacher or other adult that you respected and loved? And did it ever happen that the adult gave you a chance to make up for what you had done? Whether it was to pay for something you’d broken or re-do a failed assignment, such an opportunity seemed like such a gift; it gave you a chance to show that you could do better – to show that your mistake wasn’t who you really were. And as it redeemed you in the adult’s eyes, it also redeemed you in your own eyes.
Today’s Sunday Mass readings show us that our God is a God of second chances. God does not take delight in our failure or the misery that ensues following our mistakes. God does not want to punish us or to see us suffer. But God does want us to grow through our sins, to recognize our failings and to look for him to help us when we are weak. Our first reading is a famous passage from 2 Samuel, wherein the prophet Nathan accuses the great King David of a major sin: David has committed adultery and then arranged for the murder of Bathsheba’s husband when he learns that she is pregnant from him. Rich and powerful though he was, David accepted Nathan’s criticism as just; he recognized his sin, accepted the consequences, and repented.
The responsorial psalm continues the theme of repentance, with a response that asks God to forgive our wrong. In the second reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians, we see Paul as someone who has truly converted. Paul went from being a faithful and zealous Jew who persecuted Christians to being someone who recognized Jesus as the Messiah. In this leap of faith came Paul’s realization that he had been seeking salvation in God’s ritual law given to the Jews, when truly that salvation comes from the merciful life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. God might have punished Paul for his persecution of Jesus’ followers, but instead God transformed Paul into an apostle and a saint.
But of all our readings today, the message that God is a God of second chances is perhaps most vividly portrayed by the gospel reading. Here we see a sinful woman approach Jesus, weep on his feet, dry them with her hair, and anoint him with costly oil. This is a woman who knows her sinfulness and regrets it because she knows it offends God. She is the image of genuine loving repentance, sorrowful for her mistakes particularly because she wants to love God better, and she knows that her sins keep her from God. Jesus is touched by her repentance; he does not hesitate to forgive her. Moreover, he makes an example of her for Simon the Pharisee. Simon might think that he is hospitable, but he is lacking in love – the love that would convert him, the love that would make him repent of his own sins of pride and power, the love that would make him sacrifice so much just in order to show that love to Jesus. God is a God of second chances. And in explaining this all to Simon, Jesus is giving him a second chance as well. It is not too late for Simon to humble himself and to recognize God’s presence in his midst and his own unworthiness.
Likewise, it is never too late for us to recognize our sinfulness and to embrace a life of humility wherein we acknowledge that we are always in need of continual conversion. God does not ask that we be perfect all at once, but he does ask that we keep trying for the perfection of holiness, of sainthood, of eternal life with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
On this day of Sunday celebration, let us call to mind our sins... and call to mind the salvation offered us in Christ Jesus. We have the aid of the sacraments – especially Confession and Eucharist – to grow in the grace that we need to become holier people. Jesus allows us to identify our sins, but he does not require that we wallow in them. God asks us to move beyond them. Today, identify an area in your life where you need a second chance, and make a specific resolution for addressing it. Pray that you might improve in this area, with the help of the sacraments and the Church community. Maria Morrow