Feast in the House of Simon (detail), Paolo Veronese, 1567-70
Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan [Web Gallery of Art]
Readings (New
American Bible: Philippines, USA)
Readings
(Jerusalem
Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand,
Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)
Gospel Luke 7:36 – 8:3 or 7:36-50 (New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, Canada)
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and
took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner,
having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster
jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet
with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his
feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to
himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of
woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.” Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to
say to you.” “Teacher,” he replied, “speak.”
“A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred
denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of
them. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the
greater debt.” And Jesus said to him, “You have
judged rightly.”
Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see
this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has
bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not
stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my
feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven;
hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves
little.” Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” But those who were at the
table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives
sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in
peace.”
[Soon
afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the
good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and
infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s
steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.]
(Revised American Bible)
When
I was parish priest of Lianga, Surigao del Sur, on the east coast of Mindanao
for eleven months in 1993-94, there was no telephone in the town. The mayor's
big promise was, 'By next year we will have a telephone'. It would be in the
town hall. However, modern technology has since flourished and now almost
everyone in Lianga has a mobile phone and some have access at home to the
internet.
The
only way of contacting the world outside of Lianga was by telegram. And outside
of the larger cities in the country the telegram was essential, right up to the
1990s. Apart from being the only to convey personal news, telegrams were also a
way of sending greetings. Among these were expressions of sympathy when someone
died.
When
Columban Fr James Moynihan, a New Zealander, died in 1992 in Cagayan de Oro
City someone went to a telegraph office there to send a message of sympathy to
the Columbans. The clerk taking the message was a young man with long hair.
When he saw Father Jim's name he asked the customer, 'Is that the priest who
was always hearing confessions in the Cathedral?' 'Yes.' 'Where is he being
waked?' 'At the Cathedral'.
As
soon as the transaction was finished the clerk left the office and went on his
motorbike to the Cathedral to pay his respects to Father Jim. Clearly he had
been one of his penitents. Father Jim, like other Columbans, 'semi-retired'
after many years in parish work, spent many hours in the confessional almost
every day in St Augustine's Cathedral, Cagayan de Oro City. And they always had
penitents, some of them from other parts of the Philippines. In the
Redemptorist churches in the Philippines there are lines of penitents,
especially on Wednesdays, when the Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help is
held.
Today's gospel is a beautiful expression of the sacrament of
confession, which we also know as the sacrament of penance, of reconciliation.
The woman was known to everyone as a sinner but she saw in Jesus someone she
could trust, someone who would not use her or humiliate here. In a previous Sunday Reflections I've written about
the former prostitute from the Philippines who spoke at the funeral Mass of
King Baudouin of the Belgians in 1984. The King had been concerned about the
lives of such women and had visited a brothel in Antwerp to sit with them and
hear their stories. 'He was the only man who ever listened to us', the young
woman said.
Pope Francis laments not being able to listen to confessions outside theVatican. But on his first visit to one of the parishes in his new
Diocese of Rome he heard some confessions before Mass. In his homily on Monday 29 April 2013 the Pope said this about confession: Humility and kindness are the framework of a
Christian life. Oftentimes we think that going to confession is like going to
the dry cleaners to get out a stain, but it isn’t. It’s an encounter with Jesus
who waits for us to forgive us and offer salvation.
Clearly, the woman in the gospel wasn't 'going
to the dry cleaners' but went to Jesus whom she knew was waiting for her to
forgive her and offer her salvation.
He is waiting for each of us to forgive
us and offer salvation.
Statue of St John Nepomucene, Prague [Wikipedia]
St John Nepomucene is considered the first martyr of the
seal of confession. He was thrown into the River Vlatva (Moldau) at the behest
of King Wenceslaus because he wouldn't divulge what the Queen had confessed.
+++
Vlatva (The Moldau) by Smetana, 1874
Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Rafael Kubelík
Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Rafael Kubelík
The Charles Bridge in Prague from which St John Nepomucene was thrown can be seen in the video from 10:35 - 11:00. The statue of the saint is one of many on the bridge.
Beauty, whether that of the natural universe or
that expressed in art, precisely because it opens up and broadens the horizons
of human awareness, pointing us beyond ourselves, bringing us face to face with
the abyss of Infinity, can become a path towards the transcendent, towards the
ultimate Mystery, towards God. [Pope Benedict XVI]
