Friday, September 16, 2022

 

Memorial of Saints Cornelius, Pope, and Cyprian, Bishop, and martyrs

(I Corinthians 15:15:12-20; Luke 8:1-3)

Sometimes there is posted on a church door the sign, “Alcoholics Anonymous meets here.  There couldn’t be a more appropriate place for this kind of group to meet.  Alcoholics Anonymous harbors people from whom a kind of demon has gone out.  To be sure, one attending an AA meeting would not claim to be cured of alcoholism, but the person no longer acts out in ways that “before caused so much damage.  In today’s gospel we find another one who was possessed of a demon but now finds relief in church company.

Mary Magdalene is often said to have been a prostitute because she is assumed to be the “sinful woman” who appears in the gospel episode preceding today’s passage.  There is no real basis for the claim.  In fact, Luke, the evangelist, probably lays the stories of the two women side by side to indicate that all kinds of women find peace with Jesus.  Well thought of women as well as former sinners come to him.  He rejects no one although, of course, seeks a new righteousness from everyone.

We too are a motley lot wherever we go to church.  Some of us have sullied histories.  Others have been able to avoid serious sin.  We all can rejoice to be with the Lord.  He not only forgives our sins but assures us of his eternal peace.