DAILY- HOMILY

September 18, 2014
Thursday 24th Week in Ordinary Time

1 Cor 15: 1-11 / Ps 118: 1b-2, 16ab-17, 28 / Lk 7: 36-50

Reading: 1 Cor 15: 1-11
Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, of the Good News that I preached to you and which you received and on which you stand firm. By that Gospel you are saved, provided that you hold to it as I preached it. Otherwise, you will have believed in vain. In the first place, I have passed on to you what I myself received: that Christ died for our sins, as Scripture says; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures; that he appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve. Afterwards he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters together; most of them are still alive, although some have already gone to rest. Then he appeared to James and after that to all the apostles. And last of all, he appeared to the most despicable of them, this is to me. For I am the last of the apostles, and I do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. Nevertheless, by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace towards me has not been without fruit. Far from it, I have toiled more than all of them, although not I, rather the grace of God in me. Now, whether it was I or they, this we preach and this you have believed.

Gospel: Luke 7:36-50
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to share his meal, so he went to the Pharisee's home and as usual reclined on the sofa to eat. And it happened that a woman of this town, who was known as a sinner, heard that he was in the Pharisee's house. She brought a precious jar of perfume and stood behind him at his feet, weeping. She wet his feet with tears, she dried them with her hair and kissed his feet and poured the perfume on them. The Pharisee who had invited Jesus was watching and thought, "If this man were a prophet, he would know what sort of person is touching him; isn't this woman a sinner?" Then Jesus spoke to the Pharisee and said, "Simon, I have something to ask you." He answered, "Speak, master." And Jesus said, "Two people were in debt to the same creditor. One owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other fifty. As they were unable to pay him back, he graciously canceled the debts of both. Now, which of them will love him more?" Simon answered, "The one, I suppose, who was forgiven more." And Jesus said, "You are right." And turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? You gave me no water for my feet when I entered your house, but she has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You didn't welcome me with a kiss, but she has not stopped kissing my feet since she came in. You provided no oil for my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. This is why, I tell you, her sins, her many sins, are forgiven, because of her great love. But the one who is forgiven little, has little love." Then Jesus said to the woman, "Your sins are forgiven." The others sitting with him at the table began to wonder, "Now this man claims to forgive sins!" But Jesus again spoke to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
 
Reflection:
     Forgiveness is probably the most difficult part of being a Christian. If I'm hurt deeply, I'm ashamed to say that it takes me years to completely forgive someone. There are people in my life I have yet to forgive totally. The key to forgiveness however is realizing how we have been forgiven by Jesus. The more sinful we are, the greater the healing required. Once we realize this, and humbled by our own circumstance, our attitude towards others will be different because we know how it was like.
     As Christians, we must be forgiving as Jesus was forgiving. Of course, that's easier said than done, especially if the hurt is deep. It takes prayer, commitment, humility, and most of all love, to forgive the persons who hurt us. And even if we do forgive, we can never forget. The scar will always be there and will render the relationship changed forever. What we can do as Christians, is to treat the battle scar as a lesson learned, something that helped us become better persons. If we have this attitude towards forgiveness, rest assured, we're one step closer to heaven.
      In today's Gospel reading, Jesus shows us by example that he forgives even the greatest sinners. If he who is perfect can forgive so willingly, who are we to bear a grudge against our offenders?

Prayer Requests:
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary
… for families who are in need of healing
… for world peace and reconciliation

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.

Have a good day!

**************************************************
These reflections are distributed free and are for personal use only. Feel free to send the Daily Prayer reflections to your friends, colleagues and relatives; however, if you do, please include the following:

  +================================================+
   |  The Daily Prayer, a service and an apostolate of the
   |  priests, laity and friends of Mary the Queen Parish
   |            http://www.marythequeen.org
   |  Distributed free and for personal use only. 
  +================================================+