The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary present
essential elements of Christian faith. Paul addresses the Corinthians with the
kerygma or preaching which according to Friar Jude Winkler is the basic truth that
the resurrected Christ pulled Paul from the womb of his former life, as one
untimely born, to be an apostle of the Good News. This action of the Person of
Jesus in the life of Paul is the experience of the Resurrection whereby new
life is given to Paul, the most unlikely choice of servant of Christ. The proto
Gnostic thinking of the Greeks considered that liberation of the soul, the link
to the good and Divine, from the body, the source of evil, was the desired
spiritual goal. The Resurrection is the glorification of the body which
continues to be essential in Life in communion with Jesus. Many scenes in the
magnificent video series, Catholicism, narrated by Father Robert Barron,
confirm the importance of the human body in the expression and mission of the
spiritual journey to God. The episode from the Gospel of Luke today is the presentation
of the salvation of the one with many sins through her personal encounter with
Jesus. Her actions in performing the traditional Jewish rites of purification
and welcome with tears and ointment demonstrate bodily the forgiveness she has
experienced through Jesus. Friar Jude comments that salvation begins for people
in the Gospel of Luke when they come into personal relationship with Jesus.
This begins for the woman, as Jesus proclaims, while she still lives in her
body which has been transformed from sinful action to thankful witness to Love.
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