Bottom line: Like David - and like the penitent woman in the Gospel - we acknowledge our wrongs and turn to the One who even forgives sins.

Some of you remember Bishop Sheen's television program: Life is Worth Living. He often began with a humorous story. Once Bishop Sheen told about a priest who visited a mining community. When he arrived, the miners lined up for confession. The first man said, "I can't think of any sins, Father. I haven't murdered anybody." A bit irritated, the priest said to him, "Look. Get out of here and make a good examination of conscience." So the man stepped out. He turned to the others in the line, "It's no good, boys," he said, "Father's only taking murder cases."

Well, today's first reading is about a murder case. King David had committed adultery with a woman named Bathsheba, then had her husband killed so he could marry her. David thought he had gotten away with murder. He would soon learn differently. The prophet Nathan confronted David: You might be able to escape the judgment of men, but you cannot escape the judgment of God. David had to face the consequences of his sins and the punishment was terrible. But that is not the main point. David received a further word. Nathan said to him: "The Lord on his part has forgiven your sin; you shall not die."

We hear David’s response in today's Psalm. If you look it up in the Bible, you will see that Psalm 32 is a "Psalm of David." It expresses his joy: "Blessed is the one who fault is taken away, whose sin is covered."

I recommend Psalm 32. It is one of the greatest expressions of pure joy that we find in the Bible - or in any book, for that matter.

We see the joy of forgiveness in today’s Gospel. A woman - widely known as a "sinner" - approaches Jesus. She bathes his feet in tears of remorse. This upset the others. Now, people today might think they were just a bunch of uptight hypocrites. Before we jump to that conclusion, we need to see their point of view. They reacted to that woman the same way we would react to someone who corrupts youth and wrecks homes. Jesus himself did not make light of her wrongdoing. He spoke about her sins, "her many sins." Only after delivering God's judgment does Jesus add these wonderful words: "Your sins are forgiven." A person can easily imagine her relief - the joy she could hardly contain.

Jesus' words startled the others not because they thought Jesus was treating her lightly.* What upset them was that Jesus claimed authority to absolve sinners: "Who is this who even forgives sins?"

What does Jesus' forgiveness mean? Anthony DeStefano had a nice comparison in his book "Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To." One of the prayers He always says, "yes," to is: "God, forgive me." God's forgiveness, DeStefano says, is like a man who loses a key and has to call a locksmith. The locksmith does all the work. When he hands over the key, the greatly relieved person can now open the door with almost no effort. It seems like magic.

So it is with the forgiveness we receive from Jesus. Jesus has done everything for us. He took human flesh, he suffered, he died on the cross. He hands us the key so we can make a new beginning, a fresh start. For that reason, Jesus says to the repentant woman, "Your sins are forgiven."

Jesus wants to say the same words to you and to me. When we say the simple prayer, "God, forgive me," He always says "yes." Forgiveness does involve a process that includes sorrow, change of behavior, confession, retribution and absolution.** Still, the moment we say, "God, forgive me," we can be confident he answers, yes. We have before us the example of the penitent woman who Jesus forgave. And like King David, we can know the incomparable joy of God's forgiveness:

"Blessed is the one who fault is taken away, whose sin is covered." Like David - and like the penitent woman in the Gospel - we acknowledge our wrongs and turn to the One who even forgives sins.

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