In today’s first reading, 2 Sam 11:1-4a, 5-10a, 13-17, we are given the story of King David arranging Uriah’s death to cover up his sin. Certainly, in this incident David is cunning, narcissistic, and selfish. He acts out of impulsiveness and passion. His behavior is irrational. Like Adam and Eve he is deceived, caught in a trap. His passion, jealousy, envy and his determination to get what he wants , lured on by entitlement, perhaps, leads to murder, which he attempts to conceal, in much the same way as Adam and Eve and Cain attempted to hide from their own offending behaviors. Every day we human beings get caught in these traps, digging ourselves, at times, ever and ever deeper into pits of deceit and wrongdoing, securing for ourselves what we rationally believe is rightfully ours. The thieves on the cross are every man and every woman. Sinful maneuvers, employed consciously or unconsciously, to make others look bad and to get what we want at other people’s expense will, for most of us, be exposed here on this earth, while for others these behaviors seem to remain hidden until the day of judgment. The Good News , however, is that God goes out in search of each one of us on a day-to-day basis, confronts us with our wrongdoing, great or small, offers us forgiveness and invites us to the truth about ourselves over and over and over again. What a gracious, compassionate, forgiving and reconciling God we have, a God who, even while dying on the cross, guarantees repentant sinners a place with Him in Paradise.
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