The popular Christian hymn, Amazing Grace, has been used across the spectrum of Christian tradtions, Catholic and otherwise. We sing it with Sunday congregations, we hear it at funerals, at weddings, and the ever popular but very odd near screetch of the bagpipes which blare out its haunting melody. No offense meant to bagpipe officianados!
The hymn comes to us from the English poet and clergyman, John Newton and was published in 1779. In our somewhat sensitive PC society, we have softened the lyric where it states, “saved a wretch like me” to the less offensive, “saved a soul like me,” but either way the essential theme is redemption. It is possible, through the amazing grace and mercy of God, to be forgiven and redeemed, regardless of the gravity of our sin. I for one, am eternally grateful for this God. In the sacrament of reconciliation we find its most beautiful expression.
This weekend, now in the long stretch of liturgical green on Sundays, on this Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time, we hear two complimentary stories on the work of amazing grace. One is of King David in 2 Samuel 12: 7-10 and the other is a compelling scene of Jesus’ sensitivity to the acts of repentance by a sinful woman in, Luke 7: 36-50. Maybe the first question that we need to ask is, what exactly is “grace?” When we say we receive “grace” what is it we receive? We hear of sanctifying grace, actual grace, sacramental grace, an increase in grace, and amazing grace.
The ever reliable Catholic Catechism defines grace as: “The free and undeserved gift that God gives us . . . to become his adopted children. As sanctifying grace, God shares his divine life and friendship with us in a . . . supernatural disposition that enables the soul to live with God, to act by his love. . . to conform our lives to his will (actual) . . . to help us live out our Christian vocation . . .” (CC 1996, 2000).
I obviously have left out the details here but the essence is this: Grace is a gift. We don’t deserve it but it is freely given. God desires that we choose him and him alone but he knows we are powerless without his help. Grace is that help and through it, if we freely seek it, we will live according to his will – our Christian vocation in life. In essence, it is about a relationship with God which is alive and active in our lives. Isn’t that amazing?
We have a God who doesn’t sit upon his throne, figuritively speeking, waiting for us to come to him. This is a God who has walked among us, who loves us immensely, who wants to forgive but also wants us to grow spiritually into his image, for we are made in that image. And, isn’t that amazing as well? The more astounding thing is that it is all true and we see its proof this weekend.
King David is revered by our Jewish brethren to be the greatest King of Israel. The one who establish Jerusalem as its capital and is the spiritual giant of the ancient chosen people. He united the north and south and established a mighty nation. From the line of King David, the Messiah will, and from our perspective, has already come. Yet, even this great King stood on clay feet. This Sunday’s reading from 2 Samuel, reminds us of just how fragile and human this King was. It also is a shadow of how fallible we can be at times.
David is guilty of adultery and murder – Bathsheba, the wife of one of his generals, Uriah, has become the object of David’s desire. And I don’t mean just a causual friendship. He wants her, has relations with her, then assigns Uriah to the front lines of battle where he is sure to be killed – he was. Then David took Uriah’s wife to himself. It sound like a Biblical soap opera but it is a tragic state of affairs. In today’s light of scandal hunters, David would be a 24 hours news poster-boy.
The prophet Nathan gives David an ear full in Sunday’s reading. He ticks off for David all that God had done for him – “I anointed you king of Israel, I rescued you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your lord’s house and your lord’s wives for your own. I gave you the house of Israel and of Judah . . . I could count up still more. Why have you spurned the Lord and done evil in his sight? . . .” (2 Sam 12: 7-8). What can David say except – “Guilty as charged.” Then, David repents.
“David said to Nathan. ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ Nathan answered David: ‘The Lord on his part has forgiven your sin: you shall not die.’” (2 Sam 12: 13). Amazing grace!
Even more compelling, is the scene in the Gospel of Luke 7: 36 – 50. Here a repentant woman somehow gets in to the home of a Pharisee that Jesus has gone to dine with. She is persistent and from the perspective of the hosts, unlcean. A “sinner,” aka: prostitute. She wants to see Jesus, to touch him, to weep at his feet. To anoint them with fragrant oil, and to plead, beg, for mercy.
Well, her weeping must have been profuse – enough to wash Jesus’ feet with her tears, “and dry them with her hair.” The fragrance of the oil filled the house. She not only wept at Jesus’ feet, she kissed them over and over again, and must have poured the oil not just a bit, but enough to have run to the floor. Her many sins were symbolized in such extravagance. What is Jesus to do? Only one thing – “. . . her may sins have been forgiven because she has shown great love . . .” After a simple parable with an obvious lesson on debts and forgiveness, Jesus applies that teaching in a way that is undeniable.
Of course, the Pharisees are unmoved. Their sense of self-righteousness is closed like a concrete damn before a river to the ever present mercy of God. Even they could have been converted but they refused the amazing grace of God.
There is another element that one should not miss here. This is about the Kingdom of God which Jesus so often referred to in his preaching and parables. Who is welcome in that Kingdom and what is the passport that allows us to enter? That Kingdom belongs to the poor, the repentent, the shunned by society. Those who recognize their own sin and weakness then turn to the Lord for help. The “welcomed-poor” as has been said.
If David is forgiven sins of adultery and murder and this woman is forgiven a life of immorality and scandal, then what hope is there for us? Much hope in the amazing grace of God’s abundant mercy. What healed David and this woman will also bring us life. But, and that’s a big “however,” we too must recognize the process as we too name our sin and bring it for healing in prayer and in sacrament.
As Pope Benedict XVI closed the Year for Priests the other day in St. Peter’s square, he named the sin of “abuse of the little ones” and stated, “we insistently beg forgiveness from God and from the persons involved . . .” Like the woman before the feet of Jesus, the Church weeps before him as well. I have no doubt that the reconciliation process has already begun but especially for those who were terribly victimized who must always be the focus of the Church’s protection. But, like all forgivenss extended from God, we must be responsible for our choices. The woman was forever changed and began a new life – many sins gone and replaced by many graces.
So much more can be said about this beautiful story and theme of God’s abundant mercy we hear today. “Her many sins are forgiven,” Jesus reassures the woman before him today in Luke, “because she has shown great love.” Selfishness transformed into generosity; sin changed by amazing Grace!
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