Memorial of Saint Cornelius, pope and martyr, and Saint Cyprian, bishop and martyr
Today’s first reading from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians ought to be one of the best-known excerpts of the New Testament. It contains, in a nutshell, the entire gospel message, and in can be regarded as having a creedal form. In other words, Paul’s testimony here seems to be a confession of faith: Christ died, was buried, rose on the third day, and appeared to people. Paul also personalizes this confession of faith, adding his own testimony, namely, that Christ appeared to him. Paul finds this last part particularly remarkable because of his own past; Paul was a persecutor of the Church, one who caused suffering for those who followed Jesus. Paul explains to the Corinthians that his apostolic work is the result of God’s grace.
We might say that God can write straight even with crooked lines; Paul was certainly a crooked line, and yet, by the grace of God, the gospel message was spread through him. Hence Paul credits God’s grace for his success as an evangelist. It is important to note the link here between the gospel and grace. Paul is able to preach the death and resurrection of Christ because of God’s grace, and it is because of God’s grace also that people, in this case the Corinthians, have been brought to Christ through Paul’s teaching.
Today’s gospel passage, meanwhile, features an unnamed “sinful woman in the city” who approaches Jesus in order to bathe his feet with her tears, dry them with her hair, anoint his feet with costly oil, and kiss them as well. In response, Jesus forgives her sins, telling her to “go in peace.” This, too is a crucial part of the gospel message, namely, repentance and forgiveness. In the Incarnation, Jesus took on our human form; through his passion, death, and resurrection Jesus took on our sins. And because of this purpose, Jesus is able to forgive this sinful woman’s sins. A model of repentance, she loves him in return.
Today we celebrate the feast of two great saints, early Christians who lived in the 3rd century and were martyred for our faith. St. Cornelius was a pope, and St. Cyprian a bishop whose was also a prolific writer, and whose works are still read today. Both of these men took on great sacrifice in their defense of the gospel in a hostile culture. Given this hostile culture, many Christians fell away from the faith rather than become martyrs or endure persecution. Both Cornelius and Cyprian were concerned with the repentance and reinstatement of those who had denied Christ under pressure. We do not have the same challenges as those early Christians, but we may sometimes deny Christ in the way we live our lives.
So today’s gospel reading, paired with Paul’s message and the martyrdoms of Sts. Cyprian and Cornelius are all good reminders to us that we are called to love Jesus for forgiving our sins, for taking them onto himself. As in the case of Paul, the gospel message has a personal element. We fail and sin, we are crooked lines, we too sometimes fall away, and yet God takes us back and even works through us. By the grace of God – by his forgiveness in and through his Son Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection – we are who we are. This is something to celebrate, and so, today and every day, we call out with the psalmist: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!” (Ps. 118:1).
Today, let us give thanks to God for his grace!
- Maria Morrow