It is good from time to time to reflect...
not only on the readings...
but on the prayers of the Mass.
In the collect of today’s Mass…we prayed…
"God our Father,
we rejoice in the faith that draws us together,
aware that selfishness can drive us apart."
We are all certainly aware that selfishness can drive us apart.
Families can become war zones when we think only of our own needs and desires.
Marriages flounder when one spouse demands his or her own way
with little no regard for the other.
Lives fall apart and jobs are lost when greed drives business…
instead of the good of all people.
Relationships become destructive…and even sinful…
when selfish pleasure takes the place of real love…
and when material desires and worldly standards
overrule the call of the Creator to be open to new life.
Selfishness was the root cause of the original sin.
Adam and Eve grasped the forbidden fruit…
seized for themselves what they wanted…with no regard for the law of God…
took by their own design what their base passions demanded of them.
They did so because the serpent promised them that they would ‘become like gods."
Of course they failed to remember
that they had already been created in the image of God…
the one, true, almighty and all-loving God.
Selfishness is at the core of the sins which plague our world today.
Money…fame…prestige…pleasure…instant gratification…"what I want now"
have become the driving forces
in the lives of most people in the world around us today.
Holiness…charity…reaching out to others…attaining heavenly glory…
are values that have faded from our world…
even the minds and hearts of many Catholics.
Abuse in all its forms exists
because the world views people as objects to be used for one’s own desires...
instead of creations of God to be revered for their beauty.
Perhaps sins driven by selfishness have touched your life…
or have taken your heart away from the path toward Christ.
The joy of being a follower of Jesus Christ…
is the joy of having the loving presence of Jesus
with us always in the Eucharist…
and knowing intimately the mercy of Jesus in the Sacrament of Penance.
The Gospel today proclaims the boundless mercy of Jesus!
A woman comes before Him,
who is described as "a sinful woman" from "the city."
She has a reputation as a serious and notorious sinner.
Despite the gravity of her sins…
the Lord Jesus extends the Father’s forgiveness and mercy to her.
Her troubled life and unconverted heart
require the generous and comforting presence of Jesus.
She needs to be forgiven.
She needs to have a human experience of reconciliation.
When selfishness and sinfulness take hold of our lives…
we, too, need to be forgiven.
Because sin is real and has lasting effects in human lives…
reconciliation needs to be experienced as a human event as well.
In the Sacrament of Penance…
the person of Christ…whose Sacred Heart we offend by our sins…
Himself offers forgiveness.
Notice how Jesus describes the woman to the others in the room…
"…her many sins have been forgiven because she has shown great love."
The woman’s love for Jesus…
shown through her human acts of kindness…
is a sign to the Lord that her heart is contrite and her spirit humble.
Each of us who stand before the Altar of the Lord today is a repentant sinner…
and we, too, show the Lord that we have sorrow for our sins
by our acts of love.
Because attitudes of selfishness continue to darken our cultural landscape…
we walk against the grain by living lives of self-giving.
It is the duty of every Christian to foster attitudes of self-less-ness.
This means:
openness to life…
openness to the accepting the presence of others in our lives
as companions and not as means to achieving our desires…
openness to seeking the well-being of others above our own needs…
and a willingness to forgo pleasure and comfort for the sake of holiness…
both our own holiness and that of those entrusted to our care.
The Sacrament of Penance…which we have reflected on…
is a revelation of the love and mercy of God our Heavenly Father…
and an expression of the fatherly care of the Church’s priests.
This weekend / Today…as we celebrate Fathers’ Day…
we recognize the vital role of good and holy fathers
in the work of the Church to bring Christ to the world…
and in raising their sons
to be mature young boys
and good planting ground for the seed of a priestly vocation.
We commend the fathers gathered here for their dedication to God’s holy Church...
and beg God our Heavenly Father to pour out his grace on them in abundance.
This past week we have honored with special feasts
the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Today we unite our hearts with theirs…
begging the mercy of Jesus
and seeking refuge in the motherly care of the Virgin Mary.
Strengthened with the Sacred Body and Precious Blood of Christ…
we go forth from this holy place to be living examples of Mary’s purity…
and of Jesus’ self-giving…self-emptying…charity.
May our hearts ever beat as one with the hearts of Jesus and Mary!
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