How could it be that King David, who had just arranged for the murder of the husband of Bathsheba, would be forgiven so quickly by God? David had thought he got away with his scheme of adultery and orchestrated murder so he could have the woman of his lustful passion as his wife. Then on the scene comes Nathan the prophet who calls him out, as we heard in today’s first reading. Immediately after Nathan's reading the king the harsh judgment of God, David, the text says, uttered a most brief act of contrition: “I have sinned against the Lord.” And immediately Nathan pronounces the forgiveness of God: “The LORD on his part has forgiven your sin: you shall not die.”
How could that forgiveness be so forthcoming?
It’s because David’s contrition was far more grave than what this text shows. We know this from the psalms that he wrote, like Psalm 51 which was written shortly after this encounter with the prophet Nathan. “Have mercy on me, God, in your goodness; in your abundant compassion blot out my offense. Wash away all my guilt; from my sin cleanse me. For I know my offense; my sin is always before me." Once we're forgiven, especially through the sacrament of Penance, how can we say with David, "My sin is always before me"? The answer to that is compunction which we are now going to look at in more depth.
There is also today’s responsorial psalm which David also wrote showing the depth of his compunction. 'I acknowledged my sin to you, my guilt I covered not. I said, “I confess my faults to the LORD,” and you took away the guilt of my sin.'
In the Gospel story of the penitent woman what is so stunning is the depth of her love and gratitude for the Lord’s forgiving her sins. What her dramatic action shows is not only tremendous love, but also tremendous compunction. Compunction is the virtue of awareness. Compunction is the virtue of honesty. Compunction is the virtue of seeing clearly what our deeds have done to our relationship with God.
Simon the Pharisee was a stranger to compunction. He had no compunction at not giving his guest the usual signs of hospitality that a host offered to guests coming to a home for dinner. A little pool of water to step in to get the dust and dirt off the sandaled feet, a kiss of greeting and a little sweet smelling oil to give the guest a sense of delight and honor.
Compunction is a rare virtue today. Today people are emboldened by their sins and encourage others to do whatever sins they do. It’s as if we have lost our sense of sin. Not too long ago I asked some parents of newly confirmed teens where they were the following Sunday because I didn’t see them at any
That’s a lack of compunction.
Now, we don’t need to being going around feeling as guilty as all heck. The majesty of the virtue of compunction is that it is closely tied to the sacrament of penance. Compunction drives one to confession; and once one has confessed, compunction drives one to avoid the same kinds of sins and recognize other sins when they could happen.
Compunction never looks at another as a sinner. However, compunction does indeed recognize sin, first of all in the self and also in the choices made by others. But compunction is non-judgmental, meaning that it knows the difference between the sin, which is to be rejected, and the sinner, who is to be reverenced and loved. It is a compassionate recognition of what causes such woe in the world. Compunction is not blind to the reality of evil, but has seen evil’s distortion in one’s own life and knows that Jesus is the only way out of that distortion.
Compunction is both the doorway to forgiveness and the expression of heartfelt gratitude for the grace of being forgiven. Compunction comes from knowing the Lord and intimately knowing His mercy, love, and compassion.
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