Lord, Forgive the Wrong I Have Done

Readings for Sunday, June 16 — Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time

2 Samuel 10:7-10, 13; Psalm 32:1-2,5, 7, 11; Galatians 2:16, 19-21; Luke 7:36-8:3

Suggested Reflection Questions:

  • The psalmist sings about confessing his sins to God and God’s boundless, healing forgiveness. Now that he has been liberated from his sin, he is overcome by “glad shouts of freedom.” Why do we acknowledge our sins out loud during confession? Why does God, who knows our every thought and deed, ask us to give our sins voice while receiving this sacrament of healing and forgiveness?
  • Before his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus, Paul was without equal in his zeal for adhering to every detail of the Jewish law. In his letter to the Galatians, he advises them that it is not by a strict keeping of this law but by following Jesus that we are justified in God’s eyes. What does it mean to believe in Jesus? Is it simply a proclamation of our trust in the Lord or does it entail something more?
  • The Pharisee with whom Jesus dines is scandalized by the fact that Jesus, a rabbi whose understanding of the Torah knows no equal, would welcome the ritual impurity of being touched by a sinful woman. Jesus is moved by the love and surrender in the woman’s act. He forgives her sins (which, we are assured, are great). What do Jesus’ interactions with the woman and the Pharisee teach us about God’s mercy? How can we imitate the woman in the story?