God's mercy is scandalous, Homily, Week 11, Cycle C

God’s mercy is scandalous.   Or so it appears from the perspective of how the world looks at David and the sinful woman. David was a great King, but he had his faults.  He had everything, but it wasn’t enough.  He desired Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, so he had him killed.  David committed adultery and murder, two grave sins.  We don’t exactly know the sin of the woman in the Gospel, but its suspected she was a prostitute who committed adultery. The Pharisee judges her to be a sinner and doubts Jesus’ status as a prophet since he let her touch him. So we have two people guilty of grave sins: adultery and a murder.  The punishment for these sins at the time was death by stoning.  So what does God do?   He forgives both of them: a scandal, from the world’s perspective. But not from a God who extends his mercy. 

David and the woman provide a good model in receiving God’s Mercy by their humility, faith, and gratitude.  When Nathan confronted David for his misdeeds, David didn’t respond in defense.   He humbly admitted: “I have sinned against the Lord”.  Admitting your sins can be something that’s very hard to do.   It takes humility to admit you’ve done something wrong.  It’s especially a challenge in our culture today, where there is very little sense of sin.  Living a sinful lifestyle seems to be the norm and accepted if you follow the secular media and entertainment in today’s world. But if you have David’s humility to examine your life and admit sin, you can hear Nathan’s words to David: ”The LORD on his part have forgiven your sin: you shall not die”.  All you have to do is to go to confession.

The sinful woman showed great faith in Jesus’ power to forgive.   She was so confident in Jesus’ ability to forgive she risked showing up as an unwelcome guest to

express her gratitude.  Due to her faith, Jesus forgave her. Now it may have seemed like Jesus forgave the woman because of the great love she showed him.  But it’s really the other way around.  The woman was showing great love for Jesus in gratitude for his forgiving her sins.  We can’t earn forgiveness. Forgiveness is a free gift from God.  God forgives us because he loves us, not because we love him.  Our love for him is a response to the grace given to us through His mercy. 

It’s essential for us to recognize our sinfulness, so we can receive God’s Mercy.  In doing so we can also be instruments of God’s mercy.   Two lines from today’s Gospel really hit home on this for me:  Jesus said: So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven because she has shown great love.  But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.  The Pharisee, Simon, showed little love for Jesus, because he thought he was righteous.  This was obvious by his lack of hospitality.  He showed little love for the woman.  His judgment of her made this clear. He could use a little humility and faith, so he could be grateful and show great love.

This year Pope Francis has declared an Extraordinary Jubilee Year dedicated to Mercy.   The theme of this Jubilee is “Merciful Like the Father”. Pope Francis has done this to make the world more aware of the infinite mercy of God.  As part of the Year of Mercy each diocese throughout the world has a Holy Door of Mercy that anyone can make a pilgrimage to pass through. By passing through the Holy Door of Mercy you’re able to receive a plenary indulgence.  We have two Holy Doors of Mercy in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, one at Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral in downtown Indianapolis and another at St. Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad, IN.  In order to receive the plenary indulgence you need to make a profession of faith, pray for the pope and his intentions, and receive Holy Communion and confession within 20 days of passing through the door.  An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due sins whose guilt has already been forgiven.  The indulgence can be applied to yourself or to someone who has died. Making a pilgrimage to one of the Holy Doors of Mercy can be a great way to experience God’s mercy in a profound way.

We’re all welcome to receive God’s Mercy.  We may feel we’re in right relationship with God and have no need to confess our sins. But if we don’t make the effort to go to the sacrament of reconciliation we will miss the grace of receiving God’s mercy.  Has it been a while since you’ve received the sacrament of reconciliation?  If so pray for humility and faith to help you go. Let the priest know if it’s been a while since your received the sacrament.  He will help you through.  If you’re concerned about your sins, don’t worry. Remember, God’s Mercy is scandalous.  Receiving God’s Mercy will heal your soul and help you to share great love with others.