By Fr. Andrew Kelly
11TH SUNDAY ORDINAL TIME – JUNE 16
How would anyone know a believing community is truly forgiven and reconciled? In Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 7:36-8:3) Luke offers the sinful woman as a model in which the community can measure itself.
Once the woman entered Jesus’ presence all she did was manifest self-emptying and self-surrendering radical love and gratitude for Jesus’ forgiveness and reconciliation.
The woman did this by doing slave service with her tears and hair to wash and dry Jesus’ feet, and then kissing and anointing Jesus’ feet.
The community has been forgiven and reconciled by Jesus Christ. Where is Christ to be found so the community can manifest self-emptying and self-surrendering radical love and gratitude to Christ?
The community needs look no further than poor, vulnerable and marginalized human beings. This is usually where Christ can be most easily found to be living.
There the community can do its radical slave service by imitating, living and doing the gestures and deeds of the now-forgiven and reconciled sinful woman.
It is through hands-on, face-to-face slave service to God’s most fragile human beings that the world will truly know the community has been forgiven and reconciled through the words and deeds of Jesus Christ.
(Father Andrew Kelly is a retired priest of the Diocese of Davenport.)
Scripture Readings for June 16-23
Sunday
2 Sm 12:7-10, 13
Gal 2:16, 19-21
Lk 7:36—8:3 or Lk 7:36-50
Monday
2 Cor 6:1-10
Mt 5:38-42
Tuesday
2 Cor 8:1-9
Mt 5:43-48
Wednesday
2 Cor 9:6-11
Mt 6:1-6, 16-18
Thursday
2 Cor 1:1-11
Mt 6:7-15
Friday
2 Cor 11:18, 21-30
Mt 6:19-23
Saturday
2 Cor 12:1-10
Mt 6:24-34
Sunday
Zec 12:10-11; 13:1
Gal 3:26-29
Lk 9:18-24
