Much is given to you

Today my homilist preached from Saint Luke about forgiveness of sins (Luke 7:36-50) noting that we cannot pay our debt of sin regardless of how large or small our self-assessment might be (and for whatever a self-assessment might be worth).  Fifty denarii or five hundred denarii.  It doesn't matter.  I was also struck, though, by the first two readings from second Samuel (2 Samuel 11:26 - 12:10, 13-15) in which David is convicted by God (through Nathan) of his sin; and Paul's Epistle to the Galatians (Galatians 2:11-21) in which Cephas is described as being "self-condemned."  There is a remarkable continuity between these readings regarding the condition of the sinner to convict himself.  Now consider this in light of the Evening Prayer reading from Luke:

"For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required..." (Luke 13:48)

 Der Evangelist Lukas from Wikipedia Commons, Meister der Fuldaer Schule, c 840.

We have been given much if we have "heard" the Word of God.  We have even more if we have understood the facts and have no intellectual reason to deny those facts.  Finally, we convict ourselves if we refuse the work of the Holy Spirit in giving us faith.