Homily: Feasts of Cornelius and Cyprian (Lk 7:36-50)
Feasts of Cornelius and Cyprian (Lk 7:36-50) “Attitude of Gratitude”
When I was growing up our family would get into our Studebaker on Sunday afternoon. Often it seemed like we had little clue where we would end up, but my father would take us for a ride. He would stop at a relative’s house or some friend that he had not seen for years. Often, we did not call ahead, we just showed up. Whoever we visited did not seem to upset. They often would offer us supper and seem glad to have extra people at the table. There was not a sense of tension over uninvited guests. Today, this would be unthinkable. It would be considered rude to arrive unannounced.
There were certain customs that one followed when a guest came into a home in Biblical times. Being hospitable was a high value. To mistreat a guest was frowned on. When someone came to your house they were greeted with a kiss of peace, their feet would be washed, perhaps the guest would be anointed with oil. This was thought to be the polite thing to do.
When Jesus went to the home of Simon the Pharisee, Jesus was not greeted in the normal fashion. We get the sense he was ignored. The woman at the center of the Gospel story offers Jesus the hospitality that Simon does not.
We get a sense that Simon wished to embarrass Jesus from the moment he came to his house. He did not respect this unsophisticated Rabbi from Galilee. His attitude was very apparent by his action. His heart was closed.
The uninvited guest, the sinful women, was ready to receive the message of mercy. Her life was changed. Simon remained anchored in his rigidity. He was trapped in his judgmental attitude. Jesus came to forgive the sinner and to heal the broken, but if we cannot see how sinful or broken, we are there is not much the Lord can do for us.
Reflection Questions:
- Am I broken and in need of Jesus’ ministry? What is it that I am struggling with right now?
- Do I think I need to be perfect before God can love me? Do I have a closed mind or an open mind when it comes to Jesus’ message?
Dear Parishioner,
Last Friday I trained some new servers. We have not been able to train a lot of new liturgical ministers for a couple years because of the pandemic so it was good to be able to work with the children. I hope we can increase our number of servers back to pre-pandemic levels.
We need other ministers. Some of our ushers, for example, have passed away over the last couple years. If you would like to begin this ministry, we would love to have you help. Sometimes people feel like this is ministry only for males. But this is not the case. There is nothing to say that women cannot fulfill this role.
If you would like to be an usher, please call our office. We can pretty much get you started right away.
May Our Lady and all the Angels and saints watch over you.
Fr. Mark