Homily for Friday, 31 January 2013– Memorial of St. John Bosco

Friday of the 3rd week in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: 2 Samuel 11:1-4a, 5-10a, 13-17; Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6a, 6bcd-7, 10-11; Mark 4:26-34

When you hear a story like that of David having Uriah slain and then taking Bathsheba as his wife, do you ever think, “What a horrible thing to do?” Does this natural indignant feeling even progress toward hoping that God will exact retribution on people like David?

Let us think about this, since from time to time our society and individuals in it react similarly toward some of its worst and most violent criminals, and even some of its more minor sinners: “How could such a sin be forgiven?” or “This person must be punished,” or even “This criminal deserves to die.”

I ask, especially if anyone here has ever been a victim of crime or knows someone who has, that you not understand me to mean that I am against correction of evil or especially of criminal behavior. Even David does not escape from the consequences of his actions. The child he and Bathsheba conceive dies, if you will pardon me for giving away a central event in tomorrow’s first reading! And yet David is given the chance to repent, and he does. Then, as we know from the rest of the story, the key point is that God builds the kingdom of Israel upon David the repentant sinner.  

God gives us the chance to repent; to echo the Psalmist: “Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned”; to say at the very beginning of our Mass, “Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy.” Then God builds God’s kingdom upon us.

This building of God’s kingdom upon repentant sinners is only possible if God is not primarily a God of retribution but a God of patience; a God of forgiveness; a God who allows the mustard seed of goodness and faith of which Jesus speaks in our Gospel parable today to grow into a strong plant in which others can take shelter under our own branches of patience and forgiveness.

God’s patience and forgiveness was the example of St. John Bosco, whose feast day we celebrate today. St. John Bosco, a patron of the Basilians and founder of the Salesians, is known for his work among the poor youth, the street children, including convicted criminals of nineteenth century Turin.

Don Bosco’s motto was one of patience and forgiveness: “Not with blows, but with charity and gentleness must you draw these friends to the path of virtue.” For rejecting retribution and punishment in favor of patience and forgiveness; “charity and gentleness,” St. John Bosco was thought insane by many. Some tried unsuccessfully to block his canonization for this reason.

“Not with blows,” not with retribution, “but with charity and gentleness”; patience and forgiveness: On this foundation God is building God’s kingdom upon us, repentant sinners every one.