CRUCIFY THE SIN BUT LOVE THE SINNER. (Homily for June 12, 2016. Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C.)


Bible Study:  2nd Samuel 12, 7 to 10 and verse 13. Galatians 2, 16 to 21
and Luke 7, 36 to 8 verse 3.


If you recall, our readings last Sunday brought out an aspect of God as a compassionate saviour who is able to feel our pain and come to our aid in moments of grief sometimes even without us saying a word. In the raising their only sons back to life, both the woman of Zeraphath and the widow of Nain came to the realization that that God has a heart capable of feeling our human emotions. Today’s readings are in the same direction but they go further to show us that not only is God compassionate towards us, he is a merciful God who forgives our sins and continues to love us despite our sinfulness.

In our opening prayer today, we prayed: “O God, strength of those who hope in you, graciously hear our pleas, and, since without you mortal frailty can do nothing, grant us always the help of your grace that in following your commands, we may please you by our resolve and by our deeds.”

At the heart of this prayer is an acknowledgment of our mortal frailty, a characteristic of every human being that makes it difficult for us to rely on our own strength and power when it comes to keeping the commandments of God. It is something that distinguishes us clearly from God. St. Paul would say: “I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.” Romans 7, 18 to 19.

It was out of his mortal frailty that David got up one evening to take a walk across the roof of his palace and sighted a beautiful lady taking a shower and desired her flesh even though he knew she was the wife of one of his best and trusted soldier, Uriah. It was out of her mortal frailty that the lady in the Gospel passage got herself a reputation in the city as a sinner.

Once we come to terms with our mortal frailty, we are able to understand why people act the way they do even when they know what is right and wrong. And furthermore, we are able to see how much we depend on God for whatever good deeds that are able to achieve. Hence, we prayed, “grant us the help of your grace that in following your commands, we may please you…”

It takes the grace of God even to keep a single commandment of God. As St. Paul goes further to explain in our second reading, it is not by our power or by the law that we are justified before God but by Grace. He says: “it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me… (therefore,) I do not nullify the grace of God; of if justification were through the law, then Christ died to no purpose.” This should make us very humble and never boast about our goodness as the book of Proverbs 16 verse 18 would say: “pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

Apart from becoming humble, an acknowledgement of our dependency on God should make us very sympathetic towards others especially those we consider to be sinners. Sympathizing with sinners is not the same thing as falling in love with the sin, it is respecting their dignity as fellow human beings. Before ever condemning a person, ask yourself whether or not you would do better if given the same circumstances. Being sympathetic is relating with the sinner from the angle of his or potentials rather than his or her former life; it is bearing in mind that despite their past, God can use anybody as he used St. Paul or St. Augustine.

Come to think of it, our Gospel passage acknowledges that some of the women who ministered to Jesus’ personal needs were formerly demon-possessed. It even specifically mentions Mary Magdalene saying she was delivered of seven demons. Sympathy towards sinners is knowing that a person’s actions does not define him or her and no matter how grievous the sin may be, it does not remove the image of God in that person.

This sympathy was completely lacking amongst the Pharisees who felt scandalized at Jesus for allowing the woman with a bad reputation to touch him. This woman wasn’t just touching Jesus, she was publicly caressing his feet, wetting them with her tears, wiping them with her long hair, kissing them with her lips anointing them with her ointment.

It was just too much a sight for the Pharisees at table with Jesus. And they began to even doubt whether Jesus was really a man of God saying to themselves: “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him for she is a sinner.” Just as most of us would think even this very day, the woman was too bad for Jesus, she wasn’t qualified to come near a holy man like Jesus.

They were expecting that to prove his holiness to them as a man of God, Jesus would just kick her away and send her flying like a football or that Jesus would speak harshly to her and lambast her for her sinful reputation. To their greatest surprise, Jesus seemed to be enjoying the show.

By his action, Jesus shows us how God is so different from us. While God crucifies the sin and loves the sinner, we human beings tend to crucify the sinner and love the sin. We are so quick to condemn people and write them off but secretly we indulge in the same sins we publicly condemn. We value our reputation before others more than our reputation before God. We want others to see us as saints, to believe that we are sinless and spotless, that we do not associate with dirty people but when the lights are turned down, our true nature emerges.

No wonder Jesus would later on say: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” Matthew 23, 27 to 28. Dear friends, it is not about what people think but what is right before God. Do not try to earn a reputation from people, aim at a clean conscience instead.

Again from Jesus’ attitude to his woman, we see the greatness of God’s mercy and how we become qualified to receive his mercy. Jesus said to Pharisee who had invited him: “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.” Luke 7, 44 to 47. The key to receiving God’s forgiveness and pardon is CONTRITION. That is, our acknowledgement that we are sinners, our ability to bring ourselves down, express our sorrow and admit our fault.

By shedding tears and wiping them with her hair, the woman expressed her contrition over her past sins and for this, she received forgiveness of all her many sins. In the same way, in our first reading, David expressed his contrition before the prophet Nathan, when he said; “I have sinned against the Lord.” By this very act of contrition, by being able to admit he was at fault, David received forgiveness. Nathan said to David, “The Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die.”

Whenever we go for confession, we are doing the same thing that the woman in the today’s Gospel did. This is the reason why going for confession is not easy. Just as this woman received forgiveness for her act of publicly humiliating herself before Jesus, the sacrament of confession ensures our forgiveness from God because it brings us down to our feet, makes us shed tears for our past sins, humiliates us before the priest and from the words of absolution, we are again reminded of our true identity as God’s children made in his image and likeness, freed from sin by Christ’s death and resurrection and capable of being used by God mightily.

Some people wonder why they have to go to confession when they can pray to God for forgiveness in the comfort of their rooms. Have you also wondered why this woman had to leave the comfort of her room to come to Jesus in a public place? Do you think Jesus would have absolved her from her room? Never despise the sacrament of confession, it is God’s gift to us and a key to access his mercy.

To sum up, here are few points to remember:
  1. Left to our mortal frailty as humans, we can do nothing.

  1. We are entirely dependent on the Grace of God for goodness.

  1. Our dependency on God’s grace should keep us humble always and make us sympathetic towards others especially those we consider to be sinners.

  1. In relating with sinners, we should be like Jesus (love the sinner and crucify the sin), and not like the Pharisees (crucify the sinner and love the sin), whom Jesus referred to as hypocrites.

  1. The key receiving God’s mercy is contrition. Sorrow for our sins means that we are willing to confess them before the priest just as the woman was willing to go before Jesus.

Let us Pray:
O God, strength of those who hope in you, graciously hear our pleas, since without you mortal frailty can do nothing, grant us always the help of your grace, that in following your commands, we may please you by our resolve and by our deeds. Amen.


Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy Sunday.

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