SEPTEMBER 15^TH 2013. TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

Gospel: Luke 15:1-10

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

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Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL                   Luke 15:1-10

The tax collectors and the sinners were all seeking the company of Jesus to hear what he had to say, and the Pharisees and the scribes complained. ‘This man’ they said ‘welcomes sinners and eats with them.’ So he spoke this parable to them:
‘What man among you with a hundred sheep, losing one, would not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the missing one till he found it? And when he found it, would he not joyfully take it on his shoulders and then, when he got home, call together his friends, and neighbours? “Rejoice with me,” he would say “I have found my sheep that was lost.” In the same way, I tell you, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine virtuous men who have no need of repentance.

‘Or again, what woman with ten drachmas would not, if she lost one, light a lamp and sweep out the house and search thoroughly till she found it? And then, when she had found it, call together her friends and neighbours? “Rejoice with me,” she would say “I have found the drachma I lost.” In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one repentant sinner.’

He also said, ‘A man had two sons. The younger said to his father, “Father, let me have the share of the estate that would come to me.” So the father divided the property between them. A few days later, the younger son got together everything he had and left for a distant country where he squandered his money on a life of debauchery.

‘When he had spent it all, that country experienced a severe famine, and now he began to feel the pinch, so he hired himself out to one of the local inhabitants who ut him on his farm to feed the pigs. And he would willingly have filled his belly with the husks the pigs were eating but no one offered him anything. Then he came to his senses and said, “How many of my father’s paid servants have more food than they want, and here am I dying of hunger! I will leave this place and go to my father and say: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as one of your paid servants.” So he left the place and went back to his father.

‘While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him tenderly. Then his son said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. -I no longer deserve to be called your son.”

But the father said to his servants, “Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the calf we have been fattening, and kill it; we are going to have a feast, a celebration, because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found.” And they began to celebrate.

‘Now the elder son was out in the fields, and on his way back, as he drew near the house, he could hear music and dancing. Calling one of the servants he asked what it was all about. “Your brother has come” replied the servant “and your father has killed the calf we had fattened because he has got him back safe and sound.” He was angry then and refused to go in, and his father came out to plead with him; but he answered his father, “Look, all these years I have slaved for you and never once disobeyed your orders, yet you never offered me so much as a kid for me to celebrate with my friends. But, for this son of yours, when he comes back after swallowing up your property — he and his women — you kill the calf we had been fattening.”

‘The father said, “My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours. But it was only right we should celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found.”’
The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . Their merciless extortion of taxes and dishonest behaviour had made the tax-collectors the most reviled members of Jewish society. Yet they were all flocking to Jesus, regardless of whether they had repented of their immoral behaviour or not. The Pharisees begin to grumble, asking themselves how Jesus can associate with such deceitful individuals. In response, Jesus recounts three parables: the parable of the shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to go after the single lost sheep; the parable of the woman who searches exhaustively for the one coin lost out of ten; and the parable of the father who waits for the prodigal son. Each of these stories tells us what God is like and who each one of us is for God. God is the one who does not deal in numbers. He cares for each of us individually, even if we are great sinners, and he will seek us out endlessly until we return to him. Who are you for God? If you contemplate the cross of Jesus Christ then you begin to appreciate that you are the one who must not be lost at all costs. Sometimes you can get disillusioned, forgetting who you are for God, falling into sin and disorder as a result. These parables reveal that you are everything for God! You are the one that he will leave everything else for.

The contrasting position of the Publicans and the Pharisees in Jewish society

It is a good idea to read the longer version of Sunday’s Gospel. When we hear all three of these parables together, then the message that Jesus wishes to teach stands out much more clearly. And this message can best be understood by keeping in mind the context in which the parables are told. The passage begins by telling us that the Publicans and sinners had been seeking Jesus company. The Publicans were not ordinary sinners! They worked with the Romans in collecting the taxes from the people. The techniques they used to extract money from people who couldn’t afford to pay were abominable. And they were engaged in dishonest profit-making themselves. Their “sin” was of a very public sort and they were reviled by the people. It is important to keep this in mind when we read the Gospel. Jesus was associating with people who were understandably hated and castigated by Jewish society at large. These were the sort of people that if we saw them coming into Mass today we would be inclined to stand up and leave. The Pharisees and Scribes, by contrast, were well respected and loved in Jewish society. They were responsible for maintaining the faith of the people. They lived lives of great coherency and were extremely faithful to the word of God. If we saw them at Mass today we would be inclined to say to ourselves, “These people have great integrity and faith. How more worthy they are than me to be here!”

Why does Jesus associate with the most immoral people in society?

The Gospel tells us that not just a few but all of the Publicans and sinners were seeking out Jesus’ company. What an embarrassing development! The text doesn’t tell us that they first repented and then went after Jesus. No, they were looking for Jesus’ company whether or not they had changed their ways. The Pharisees and Scribes begin to complain. In other words, the respectable people - the people who contribute to parish life, the people who are trustworthy - begin to become uneasy at the way that Jesus associates with such repulsive and dishonest individuals. Their grumbling is really a way of asking of Jesus “Who are you? What do you stand for? You welcome sinners and eat with them!” Jesus responds by recounting three parables that are shocking and scandalous in themselves. The third parable – the story of the prodigal son – is the most shocking of all.

God does not work in terms of numbers but in terms of persons

In the first parable Jesus tells of a shepherd who leaves the ninety nine to go after the lost sheep. For God, the single lost sheep is more important than the sheep that are already in the fold. This is an attitude that doesn’t make sense to us. For us ninety-nine percent is as good as everything. The second parable tells of a woman who has nine coins and loses one. All of us would be inclined to think, “What does it matter? We have nine out of ten. One lost is no big deal”. But for God, losing one is no trivial matter. Just one less is no trivial matter. Our utilitarian approach to life calculates the value of things in numbers. Big gains are everything and small losses are inconsequential. But the loss of a sister? A brother? Is it really such an unimportant thing? I need to have the depths of my heart invaded by the Holy Spirit in order to see things from God’s perspective! The Holy Spirit says that one alone is worth anything. It would be worthwhile to lose everything that I have in order to save a single person. We cannot be remiss about the salvation of individual people just because there are so many other people around who need to be saved.

Who are you for God? You are the one that he must go after at all costs!

That is my sheep. That is my coin. That is my son. There is a difference here! Who are you for God? You are the one who must not be lost at all costs! You are the one who must be sought out! Jesus seeks out those who must not be lost. Very often we fall into sin and disorder because we have not appreciated who we are for God. We have not comprehended that we are the ones who must not be lost! If you have doubts about that, then you need to contemplate with all of your heart the cross of Jesus Christ, who died for you so that you would not be lost. Many people despise themselves and fall into the abyss of sin, failing to see the importance of themselves in the eyes of God. Sometimes we are uncharitable to others because we don’t see how irreplaceable each one of these people is for God. We fail to appreciate how wonderful each single person is in the Father’s eyes. The shepherd seeks the lost sheep, the woman searches for the lost coin, and the father waits for the son to return. The son was lost and is found, was dead and is alive again. For the Father this is everything! Not one of us must be lost!