The Risen Jesus is the face of God

 

Welcome to my blog. Peace be with you.

Through today’s readings may we see the solid foundation of our Christian faith. Let us realise how God, far from being far away and a philosophical abstraction, embraces each one in loving mercy.

Thursday 17 September 2020

The Risen Jesus is the face of God

Prayer

Father, through the Resurrection of Jesus may we come to know you and living with and for Jesus come with him into your divine presence even now. We make this prayer through the Jesus, your Son.

 

First reading

1 Corinthians 15:1-11 ·

I preached what the others preach, and you all believed

Brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, the gospel that you received and in which you are firmly established; because the gospel will save you only if you keep believing exactly what I preached to you – believing anything else will not lead to anything.

Well then, in the first place, I taught you what I had been taught myself, namely that Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the scriptures; that he was buried; and that he was raised to life on the third day, in accordance with the scriptures; that he appeared first to Cephas and secondly to the Twelve. Next he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died; then he appeared to James, and then to all the apostles; and last of all he appeared to me too; it was as though I was born when no one expected it.

I am the least of the apostles; in fact, since I persecuted the Church of God, I hardly deserve the name apostle; but by God’s grace that is what I am, and the grace that he gave me has not been fruitless. On the contrary, I, or rather the grace of God that is with me, have worked harder than any of the others; but what matters is that I preach what they preach, and this is what you all believed.

Prayerful reflection

Here St. Paul gives the foundation of our faith. Our Christian faith is not just a theory or a mystic experience. It is grounded in an historical reality. Jesus lived and died. He is an historical person. He had disciples and people who knew him well. They were ordinary people with in fact little understanding of his teaching. They abandoned him out of fear at the crucial time of his arrest. One of then publicly denied he ever knew him. They were devastated at his death. But they had the experience of his Resurrection as described by Paul in today’s reading. From timid, cowardly disciples they became great apostles. Rather than deny what they had experienced they were willing to die.

The Resurrection of Jesus gives us the opportunity of meeting him and living with him and for him. It gives us the hope of eternal life with him.  Meeting him in faith gives us the joy of his presence now and a courageous facing of the future, particularly of death.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 117(118):1-2,15-17,28

Give thanks to the Lord for he is good.

or

Alleluia!

Give thanks to the Lord for he is good,

for his love has no end.

Let the sons of Israel say:

‘His love has no end.’

Give thanks to the Lord for he is good.

or

Alleluia!

The Lord’s right hand has triumphed;

his right hand raised me up.

I shall not die, I shall live

and recount his deeds.

Give thanks to the Lord for he is good.

or

Alleluia!

You are my God, I thank you.

My God, I praise you.

I will thank you for you have given answer

and you are my saviour.

Give thanks to the Lord for he is good.

or

Alleluia!

 

Gospel

Luke 7:36-50

Her many sins have been forgiven, or she would not have shown such great love

One of the Pharisees invited Jesus to a meal. When he arrived at the Pharisee’s house and took his place at table, a woman came in, who had a bad name in the town. She had heard he was dining with the Pharisee and had brought with her an alabaster jar of ointment. She waited behind him at his feet, weeping, and her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them away with her hair; then she covered his feet with kisses and anointed them with the ointment.

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would know who this woman is that is touching him and what a bad name she has.’ Then Jesus took him up and said, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ ‘Speak, Master’ was the reply. ‘There was once a creditor who had two men in his debt; one owed him five hundred denarii, the other fifty. They were unable to pay, so he pardoned them both. Which of them will love him more?’ ‘The one who was pardoned more, I suppose’ answered Simon. Jesus said, ‘You are right.’

Then he turned to the woman. ‘Simon,’ he said ‘you see this woman? I came into your house, and you poured no water over my feet, but she has poured out her tears over my feet and wiped them away with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but she has been covering my feet with kisses ever since I came in. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. For this reason I tell you that her sins, her many sins, must have been forgiven her, or she would not have shown such great love. It is the man who is forgiven little who shows little love.’ Then he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ Those who were with him at table began to say to themselves, ‘Who is this man, that he even forgives sins?’ But he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’

Prayerful reflection

In this passage we see the merciful face of God revealed in Jesus. With Jesus everyone is welcome. He does not look at their sins, but his love looks at them. As they come with repentance, he opens his heart and his arms to them.

Like this one-time sinful woman, we can approach Jesus any time and always expect him to welcome us. As he told Peter to forgive 70 times 7, he too is willing to forgive the repentant sinner every time he falls at his feet.

Let us take the place of this anonymous woman. We can put our name in the story.

 

Prayer

Father give us faith in your love and mercy, so that we can come to know you.

We make our prayer through your Son Christ Jesus our Lord.