13/06/2010 - 11TH. SUNDAY IN ORDINARY SEASON - C
1Reading 2Sam 12,7-10.13 Psalm 31 2Reading Gal 2,16.19-21 Gospel Lk 7,36 - 8,3
"They are not of the world, as I am not of the world". Jesus turns to
the Father with these words, knowing that his disciples were hearing him. They are
the ones who need to hear them and be made aware of them. The world cannot own neither
him nor those who offer themselves to him. The world is not to influence the will,
the love, the choices of those who love Jesus, the Son of God. They are not of the
world, on the contrary, they left the world the day they started to follow him.
The word "world" means all that is made by man and things, that is strange
to Jesus and to the love of the Father. Jesus himself is not of the world: he himself
confirmed it before Pilate, when asked about the kingdom that was given him. His
kingdom does not belong to here. Neither his royalty is to be understood like the
one of a king here on earth. He does not compete with them. He left the world the
day he entered the waters of the Jordan river, over burdened with the sins of men.
He left the world when he entered the desert, where he won all the big temptations
that the world exercises on the children of God. He left the world also, when at
twelve years old, he stayed behind in the Temple of Jerusalem to listen and deepen
his knowledge of the Word of God. Therefore, Jesus does not belong and don't want
to belong to the world, but neither be influenced by it: he does not want to assume
the ways of doing and thinking that men choose to do. In his thoughts and desires
and in his words there is always something new which is unknown by all, the novelty
of the thoughts and desires of God, that novelty that makes one feeling to be in
another world, that of faith and love. Jesus wants that his own be with him, in
this other world, and they, having loved him and welcomed him, have already entered
there. Because of this he can say: "They don't belong to the world", and
he can say it loud with joy. It's the same joy that we can imagine he expressed
when he said: "You are the salt of the earth…you are the light of the world".
He knows and hence he declares it that they are not only important, but indispensable
for the life of all humanity, even those who do not believe.
Today, st. Paul assures us that: "Man is not justified by the works of the
Law, but only by faith in Jesus, the Christ". By this affirmation the apostle
is saying that it's not us, by our capacity that we succeed to earn God's forgiveness
and his salvation. We are often tempted to think that we need to do something to
please God, and hence we do exercise penance, go on a pilgrimage, or do something
good. We tend to trust our good will and our capacities. Then it can happen, that
we do something really grave, like unfaithfulness, abortions, harm to others, and
we come to realize that none of our good things can redeem the evil committed, and
as a result of this, we feel down and desperate. St. Paul reveals to us that, it's
not what we do that make us worthy of God, but our relationship to Jesus, the Son
the Father sent so that we can be saved through him. When we realize that we are
sinner, or our guilt feeling would want to bring us to the point of desperation,
we should present ourselves to the Father through Jesus as we trust ourselves to
him. He offered himself for us. He took upon himself our sins already at the moment
of his baptism in the river Jordan, and carried them on to the cross. If the Father
forgives us, it's because Jesus died for us. Our sins could be grave, graver than
we thought when we committed them, as what happened to David. He, the king of the
people of Israel, needed to be helped by the prophet to become aware of the seriousness
of his actions. After being sorry, in the light of the sacrifice of Jesus, he was
forgiven.
What should one do to be aware of having sinned? The Gospel Reading is to enlighten
us. Jesus forgives the woman who loves him. He understood that the love of that
woman for him was a love that brought her to listen to him and obey him, a great
love that could not remain hidden. She expressed it even though she was judged and
despised by many, and put Jesus in an embarrassing position. Her sins were really
big and grave, and it's because of this that she expressed great respect towards
Jesus, from whom she was hoping to receive the forgiveness of God. The man who invited
Jesus for lunch did not think of receiving forgiveness. He had invited him, perhaps
only for the ambition to have hosted a famous person or to do something good. He
didn't compromise with him, didn't perform the rites of simple and gracious love.
This was so because from Jesus he was not waiting neither forgiveness, nor salvation.
Having been taught by the Lord himself, let us run to him with a pure, simple love,
with trust even when the thought of sin makes us suffer. No one and nothing should
keep us from loving Jesus, and when we ask him to forgive us, let us renew our relationship
with him with a renewed love. Pain and sorrow are certainly needed for the wrong
done, but more than that its to recover the love for the one whom the Father had
sent. Without this love, there is no conversion, and our confession remains fruitless.
This is brought to fulfillment when we renew our love for the Jesus.