St. Juliana Falconieri, Virgin, (1341)
St. Deodatus, Bishop, (679)
St. Bruno, Martyr, (1009)
St. Ephrem the Syrian, Confessor, (373)
St. Amandus, Bishop, (431)
Saints Mark and Marcellian, Martyrs, (287)
St. Harvey, Abbot, (550)
Saints Nicander and Marcian, Martyrs, (350)
St. Hypatius, Abbot, (446)
I live by faith in the Son of God
who has loved me and given himself up for me.
Today’s readings and Gospel give us the full bore reality of sin —“ and the answer to sin.
In our first reading the prophet Nathan confronts David with God’s words.
‘I anointed you king of Israel.
I rescued you from the hand of Saul.
I gave you your lord’s house and your lord’s wives for your own.
I gave you the house of Israel and of Judah.
And if this were not enough, I could count up for you still more.
Why have you spurned the Lord and done evil in his sight?
In a deadly concoction of sin, a mixture of lust, jealousy, envy, desire, and corruption David had one of his finest soldiers, Uriah, a humble and righteous man, killed, so that he could take Uriah’s wife as his own. He had already committed adultery, she was pregnant by him, and then he killed her husband. David killed, and the Lord’s anger flared up.
What should David have done? What could David have done to make amends?
Nothing really.
David simply said:
—I have sinned against the LORD.—
To which the prophet of the Lord replied:
—The LORD on his part has forgiven your sin:
you shall not die.—
That, my friends, is trust beyond reason and a love beyond telling.
Jesus visits the house of the Pharisee and dines there.
Now there was a sinful woman in the city
who learned that he was at table in the house of the Pharisee.
Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment,
she stood behind him at his feet weeping
and began to bathe his feet with her tears.
Then she wiped them with her hair,
kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment.
She didn’t say anything. She spoke through her actions and her tears.
Later Jesus would say:
—Your faith has saved you; go in peace.—
She had faith, but faith in what? Faith in a prophet? No prophet could forgive sins.
The guests pointed that one out.
The others at table said to themselves,
—Who is this who even forgives sins?—
To the Jewish people the forgiveness of sins required actions. A blood sacrifice in the Temple was necessary. Even with that sacrifice, forgiveness wasn’t a spoken commodity. Only God could forgive, only God knew.
No, the woman had faith, faith and blind trust, like David’s blind trust. She knew that Jesus, who reclined at table, whose feet she bathed and anointed, was God. He who could forgive sins.
You heard the readings and the Gospel. After a joyous Easter season, and the three great post Easter Sundays celebrating the Holy Ghost, the Holy Trinity, and the Body and Blood of our Lord, it’s all a downer. It’s all about sin.
Brothers and sisters,
David didn’t think so, the sinful woman didn’t think so, and Mary, called Magdalene, out of whom seven demons were cast didn’t think so.
David saw, the woman saw, Mary saw. They all saw the great light. Each of them trusted beyond reason, and received love beyond telling. The light of God’s all encompassing love, the richness of His forgiveness.
There is really nothing we can do, other than in our expression of faith. Faith that saves us from sin.
Paul spoke of salvation though works alone, which is impossible. He pointed out that that was the faith of the old Israel.
Each of us lives the full bore reality of sin. In the small things and in the big things we do. We are David, and the sinful woman. All we can say is: —I have sinned against the LORD.—
The answer, as Paul rightly points out, is our faith. Faith that bears fruit in our repentance, and through the works we accomplish by faith.
St. Tychon, Bishop, (450)
St. Aurelian, Bishop, (551)
Saints Cyricus and Julitta, Martyrs, (304)
Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Saints Vitus and Companions, Martyrs, (300)
St. Orsiesius, Abbot, (380)
St. Hesychius, Martyr, (302)
St. Basil the Great, Bishop and Doctor, (379)
Saints Valerius and Rufinus, Martyrs, (287)
St. Methodius of Constantiople, Bishop, (847)
St. Anthony of Padua, Confessor, (1231)
St. Felicula, Martyr, (90)
St. Aquilina, Martyr, (280)
Dear Saint Anthony, you were prompt to fulfill all justice. You gave God and His creation the service He required from you. You respected other people’s rights and treated them with kindness and understanding.
Saint Anthony, Zealous for Justice, teach us the beauty of this virtue. Make us prompt to fulfill all justice toward God and toward all creation. Help us also in our pressing need for justice toward all humanity. Not the justice we seek, but rather God’s holy justice, crowned in kind mercy and understanding. Amen.
…or it’s all about being handled.
I really don’t have much to say about the whole Paris Hilton saga, but…
I felt the typical outrage as I saw a system that’s supposed to be relatively blind kowtow to money, sex, and celebrity.
Not that I’m so naive to think the system isn’t played on a daily basis (OJ with that thought anyone) by those with money and a cult of celebrity. Nevertheless, I still believe that some semblance of what is core to the civil justice system will prevail and am disappointed when it doesn’t.
More than the outrage at a corrupt system, for me, it was really the utter disgust at the thought of all the pre-release crying, wailing, psycho mumbo-jumbo and the sheriff’s tie in to his feelings on those matters.
I understand dear, here’s a pass.
Of course that doesn’t apply to the prostitute they arrested while he or she was trying to make enough to feed their crack habit, or the petty thief who hears voices and sees visions.
Ask anyone in the criminal justice field and they will tell you that the majority of the incarcerated are drug addicted and/or mentally ill. They are welcome to partake of ‘state services’ or worse yet, contracted out state services (jails being a big industry in the U.S.).
The whole post-release breakdown thing appeared to be a reaction, not to the sentence or the process, but rather to the lack of handlers. Mom and Dad, no help. Makeup artist, couldn’t find ’em on one minutes notice. Clothing, not runway chic. Paris lost her security blanket.
It took about two days for her handlers to overcome the shock. Then we had Barbara Walters and the whole I’ve found God mockery going on.
I don’t know, a night in jail and her catechetical learning was resurrected? Oops, none of that back there. Her cellmate, a black woman from Louisiana, she brought Christ to Paris? Oh, that’s right, no cellmate. Maybe the Gideons left a bible for her?
My daily blog reads have worthy comments on the whole Paris issue. From the Young Fogey see: Picking on Parish Hilton and from Fr. Martin Fox’s Bonfire of the Vanities see: Reality is a harsh mistress.
On to Joseph Lieberman, Senator for the State of Connecticut.
The press typically places an “(I)” after his name to denote the fact that he is an “independent” i.e., not a Democrat or Republican. Well, independent would be an oxymoron in his case. I’m thinking that “(I)” stands for Israeli stooge.
The Senator found himself in the hands of the handlers this past weekend. He knew just how to look, and just what to say. The script was clear – threaten Iran with a military strike. Interestingly enough:
Over the weekend, Israel officials indicated that a strike against Iran was an option being considered if diplomacy fails.
You can read the whole sorted tale at the Christian Science Monitor in: Talk of attacking Iran escalates tensions.
I’m just wondering when, and if ever, the handlers are going to get a grip on reality.
There’s plenty of money in reality.
Earn it in helping the mentally ill, the incarcerated, the addicted. Rush to the front lines in defense of our borders, not Israel’s or Albania’s, or Korea’s, or Sudan’s, or…
The handlers are at heart cowards, afraid to step into the light and even more afraid of taking a stand. They live in hollow places that only God can fill. May God have mercy on us all and may He fill the vacuum in their lives.
Perhaps Judge Reggie Walton poked a little hole in their air filled arguments when he called on the handlers and the handled to step up to the plate on behalf of the poor and defenseless. From the Boston Globe see: Law scholars appeal to judge for Libby
WASHINGTON — A dozen of the country’s most respected constitutional scholars have leapt to the aid of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby , asking a federal judge if they could try to convince him about critical legal questions that favor letting Libby remain free while he appeals his conviction in the Valerie Plame Wilson leak case.
Within hours of Friday’s filing from the scholars, US District Judge Reggie Walton wrote back , granting their request . In a footnote, he said he was delighted to know that such a distinguished group was available to help argue on behalf of criminal defendants on “close questions” of the law.
Walton promised he’d ring them up soon when — instead of Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff facing the threat of incarceration — there might be poor defendants who need big legal minds to avoid imprisonment…
St. Antonina, Martyr, (304)
St. Onuphrius, Hermit, (400)
St. Peter of Mount Athos, Hermit, (750)