"What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, 'Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.'" (Lk 15:4-6)
The parables of the "lost sheep" and the "prodigal son" in the Gospel reading for this Sunday are among some of the most beloved parables in the bible. Through these parables, together with the parable of the "lost coin", Jesus reveals in a unique and startling manner the inner heart of God where love, mercy, compassion, and joy burn ardently for each one of us.But before going further, let's take a look at the first reading for a moment, where we witness a dialogue taking place between God and Moses on Mt. Sinai, shortly after the exodus from Egypt. God is furious with His people who "have become depraved" and have begun worshiping the golden calf. He threatens to wipe them out and start His plan all over, but this time with Moses. Moses, however, quickly leaps into the breach and pleads with God on behalf of the Israelite people, and God listens to his plea, abandoning His wrath and relenting in the punishment He had threatened.
In this reading we hear of the sin of the Israelites and God's threat of cutting them off and punishing them. Strictly speaking, when we sin we too deserve nothing but punishment and isolation - or better yet, our punishment is our isolation, as our separation from God means being separated from the fountain of love and all life. Throughout the Scriptures we see this cycle repeated: God establishes a bond (a covenant) with His people, man breaks that bond, and God has to devise a new plan to restore communion. But unlike the human bonds of friendship which can be healed by our efforts, the bonds that once united us to God cannot be healed unless God steps in and intervenes. To give you an off-the-cuff example, if you and a friend tie your hands together with a rope and then cut the rope it's still possible to retie the rope in some fashion. If, however, you are 3,000 feet off the ground, clinging to the end of a rope that is tied to a hot air balloon and you decide to cut the rope, there's no hope, that bond is broken. When we turn our backs on God we cut our "lifeline" and plunge away from God and towards death.
So on one hand, today's Gospel parables give a stark illustration of the isolation and sorrow man experiences when he distances or separates himself from God - we see this in the lost sheep who wanders far from his shepherd, and the son who moves far away from his father. But, on the other hand, just as Moses jumped into the breach in the first reading to intercede on behalf of the Israelite people and saved them, so Jesus Christ leaped from Heaven (Wisdom 18:14-15) into the breach caused by our sin to bring us back to God. We have here the clash between sin, isolation and death, and the powerful and dramatic action of God to bring us home where we belong.
So through Jesus' use of the parables of the "lost sheep", the "lost coin", and the "prodigal son" we discover that God is not a severe judge waiting for us to make a mistake so He can punish us, nor does He merely dole out mercy from above with a disdainful glance and the greatest of reluctance. Rather, the parables show us that in the person of Jesus Christ God has broken into our world to actively search us out, and that He rejoices when He is able to save us from our misery. God is our Father who patiently, yet ardently desires our return home, and rushes out to embrace us when He sees us drawing close. God is infinitely interested in us! We are His inheritance and treasure - and that's something to ponder! In all three parables Jesus speaks of joy and rejoicing - expressions which faithfully reveal the inner heart of God who longs to be with those He loves.
In closing I would like to say two things. First of all, the parables in today's Gospel should cause us to reflect on our concept of God - how we view Him. They have the power to purify how we see God, ourselves, and others if we spend time with them. Secondly, St. Paul (who we hear in the 2nd reading) is a shining example of a man who lives on the fringes of the sorrows of this life and the joy of Heaven. He embodies the parables of the "lost sheep" and the "prodigal son" beautifully. The sorrow for the sins he committed does not cast him into despair, but rather become the context in which Jesus revealed the depth of His merciful love. St. Paul can therefore openly recognize his sins - not trying to pretend they never occurred, nor blame someone else for them - and at the same time rejoice at the mercy of God - a merciful love which transformed St. Paul's entire life and led him to exclaim, "to the king of ages, incorruptible, invisible, the only God, honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." (1 Tim 1:17) Have a great Sunday!
(Photo of the "Return of the Prodigal Son" courtesy of Br. Lawrence Lew, O.P.)
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