This reading from the Second Book of Samuel marks a low point of the rule of David. What was a glorious rule is tarnished by his lustfulness and his treachery against Uriah so that he could have Bathsheba as his wife. His crime and sin is confronted by Nathan the man of God. When David realizes the horror of his sin he is truly repentant. God’s mercy is ever present to those who repent. So it was with the great King David.

Paul was very much in touch with the difference that Christ death and resurrection has brought about. Those who believe in this redemption like Paul are aware that a new dimension and new reality of life is what we share. It is not a life dependent on our accomplishments or fame or recognition. That is the life of the flesh measured by the Law. We live a life of the Spirit that takes it worth from the life that brings us out of our earthly existence into the realm of the Risen Lord.

Contrasts are one of the best ways a lesson can be taught as well as learned. We have the pride and arrogance of the Pharisee who has invited Jesus to dinner and the disparagement of the woman who is known as a sinner. His treatment of his guest Jesus is rude and demeaning. Yet the sinner is abundant in her concern and care for the Lord. The Pharisee sees little need for God. He is taken up with his own importance. She on the other hand is on her knees is awe and respect for all that God has done for her even in her sinfulness.

It is true of all of us that we come to wisdom late in life. Sure there are times when we go about with the thought that we know all the answers and of course our way is the best. It is often with the passage of time and we look back at what we said or what we did that we cringe that we could have been so blind or stupid. Many of us have thought to ourselves when we recall some past actions “What ever made me think I knew what I was talking about?”

We recall the fools we made of ourselves in our teens and as we were sowing our oats. We shudder at the chances and risks we took and the feelings of others that we ran rough shod over.

It is at times when we do some serious reflection that we get in touch with the love that surrounded us and that we took for granted. As a youngster I was a happy youngster. I feel sad that many recall their adolescence with sadness. For many of us it was wonderful to be carefree and have our parents take care of us and put up with us and provide for us. Believe me it does not get any better than that. Yet how often many of us thought that our parents were tyrants whose special delight was to make our lives miserable. There were times that many of us when we were young thought our parents would wake up each morning and turn to one another and ask what could we do to make the children miserable today.

Of course all that time we presume that our parents took care of us and provided for us because we were so lovable. It was almost as if we were irresistible. The fact of the matter is that it was not that we were so loveable because much of what we did and how we carried on was not particularly loveable. The reason for the security of our lives was the depth of the love that our parents had for us. It was only as time passed by that we came to realize what they had to put up with and we wonder why they ever let us survive. It is discovering their love that our love and gratitude for them has awakened and increased.

David came to the awareness of the goodness of God only after his incredible treatment of Uriah. He realized that his success was not his accomplishment but the gift that God had given him in being king. The magnitude of his sin came home to him when he realized the love of God that he had too often taken for granted.

The woman in the Gospel story was aware of her past. The Pharisee was consumed with his own success and properness. Yet the Pharisee violated the minimal requirements of hospitality and was busy standing in judgment of the sinful repentant woman. When we are full of ourselves we know nothing of the goodness of another like many of us when we were younger. It is only when we see and face ourselves as we are with our faults and sins that we can be in touch with the graciousness of another and of God.

On this Father’s Day many of us are aware of our parents and what they did for us. So much of what is valuable in our lives come to us from our parents. Our life, our values, their support and strength in times of struggles and when all seem to have abandoned us we recall that our parents have been there to turn to. We have received so much more than we can ever return to them. So it is with all genuine love. We come to the realization of the goodness of the other and we are in awe and profoundly grateful. We are grateful for all that we have from our parents and today especially our Fathers. It is also a day when we reconnect with the love that God Our Father continues to embrace our lives. Much has been forgiven all of us and in return we begin to realize how much love God has for us.

 Homily preached at the

  5:00 Sunday liturgy June 16, 2007

  Reverend William D. Mannion