TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
15 SEPTEMBER 2019
The
Pharisees and scribes believe that they have earned the right to come close to
divinity by their observance of the law.
They criticize Jesus for eating with tax collectors and sinners, who
have forfeited that right through their sins.
They cannot see that Jesus is holy or prophetic if he comes close to
these losers. They forget that their
ancestors in the desert had not earned the right to be associated with
divinity. Their ancestors had thanked a
golden calf for leading them from slavery to freedom, denying that God had been
the source of their salvation. Through
the intercession of Moses, God relented and found a people who were lost.
Instead of
trying to define the concept of mercy in precise theological terms, Jesus
chooses to tell three insightful parables.
Each parable explains how God seeks out what is lost. God is like the woman who cleaned her house
to find a lost coin of very little value.
Coins are inanimate objects and cannot know that they are lost. God does not give up, even when a person has
no concept of being made in God’s image and no clue of being lost. God is like the shepherd who went after the
lost sheep. A lost sheep may be aware of
being lost, but can do nothing about it.
God continues to seek out those who know they are lost but cannot figure
out how to return. God is like the
father whose son showed absolute disrespect for him. In effect, the selfish son considered his
father dead to receive an inheritance that was not really his. God seeks after those who have made terrible
and selfish choices. When they finally
come to their senses, he rushes out to greet them and welcome them home as his
children.
Saint Paul
knew that incredible mercy of God, once he came to his senses and turned away
from his blasphemy and persecution and arrogance. Because the Lord had treated him with such
incredible mercy, Saint Paul courageously proclaimed that same mercy to Timothy
and all who would hear him out.
Odds are
very good that each one of us at this Mass has been lost in one way or another
in the course of our lives – sometimes not knowing that we were lost, sometimes
not knowing what to do about it, and sometimes living the consequences of
selfish and arrogant choices. The Lord
has pursued us and rejoiced when we were found – like the woman and the
shepherd who called their friends together to rejoice in their good fortune, or
like the father who threw a huge feast to welcome home his repentant son.
In
rejoicing over the ways in which God has found us, we cannot make the mistake
of the older son, who could only conceive of his father’s love in terms of earning
it. If we are to be an evangelizing
parish, we need to extend that same mercy to those who are lost. The older son did not want to join in the
feast, just as the Pharisees and scribes did not want to sit down with sinners
and tax collectors. Fortunately for us,
the Lord Jesus has decided to sit down with us, who are sinners, at this
Eucharistic Banquet. He loves us with
his merciful love, and wants us to extend that merciful love to others.
No comments:
Post a Comment