September 11th 2022.  Twenty-fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL   Luke 15, 1-32

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

 

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

 

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GOSPEL   Luke 15,  1-32

Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,
but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
So to them he addressed this parable.
“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 neighbours and says to them,
‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’
I tell you, in just the same way
there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous people
who have no need of repentance.
“Or what woman having ten coins and losing one
would not light a lamp and sweep the house,
searching carefully until she finds it?
And when she does find it,
she calls together her friends and neighbours
and says to them,
‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’
In just the same way, I tell you,
there will be rejoicing among the angels of God
over one sinner who repents.”
Then he said, “A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father,
‘Father give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’
So the father divided the property between them.
After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings
and set off to a distant country
where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.
When he had freely spent everything,
a severe famine struck that country,
and he found himself in dire need.
So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens
who sent him to his farm to tend the swine.
And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed,
but nobody gave him any.
Coming to his senses he thought,
‘How many of my father’s hired workers
have more than enough food to eat,
but here am I, dying from hunger.
I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him,
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
I no longer deserve to be called your son;
treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”’
So he got up and went back to his father.
While he was still a long way off,
his father caught sight of him,
and was filled with compassion.
He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.
His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you;
I no longer deserve to be called your son.’
But his father ordered his servants,
‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him;
put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Take the fattened calf and slaughter it.
Then let us celebrate with a feast,
because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again;
he was lost, and has been found.’
Then the celebration began.
Now the older son had been out in the field
and, on his way back, as he neared the house,
he heard the sound of music and dancing.
He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean.
The servant said to him, ‘Your brother has returned
and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf
because he has him back safe and sound.’
He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house,
his father came out and pleaded with him.
He said to his father in reply,
‘Look, all these years I served you
and not once did I disobey your orders;
yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns, who swallowed up your property with prostitutes,
for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’
He said to him,
‘My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours.
But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’”

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

 

1. The readings show us leaders of two different sorts: Moses the merciful leader who pleads for mercy, and the Pharisees without mercy who plead for condemnation

Even though the second reading follows its own cycle, all of the readings this Sunday are very cohesive thematically. In the first reading, the people of Israel have made a golden calf. The Lord tells Moses that they must suffer the consequences for this evil, but Moses convinces the Lord not to punish them as they deserve. Moses plays the role of merciful intercessor. The Lord relents and continues to guide his people towards the Promised Land. In the Gospel, the Pharisees and Scribes show the opposite characteristic to Moses. They complain because Jesus shows deference to sinners. In response, Jesus recounts the parables of the lost coin and the lost sheep, and then, finally, that of the Prodigal Son. These parables tell of three feasts that are held to celebrate the finding of that which was lost. The central point of this whole discourse is that which is repeated twice by the Father in the final parable: “This son of mine was lost and has been found”. Earlier we hear Jesus say that there is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents. All of this is intended to help the Pharisees understand the joy of Jesus in welcoming sinners. Jesus is manifesting the heart of God towards man, a heart that does not want to lose anybody. Thus we have two types of leaders of the people: Moses who intercedes for the people that they might be forgiven, and the Pharisees who have no mercy and wish to exclude sinners.

 

2. What is it that makes a leader merciful? St Paul shows us in the second reading. When we experience the mercy of God ourselves, then we learn to be merciful to others.

But how do we find leaders who intercede for their people, like Moses, instead of leaders who exclude those who need mercy, like the Pharisees? St Paul in the second reading tells us how he himself became a man of mercy. Paul begins by confessing that he was an arrogant persecutor and blasphemer, but the Lord showed mercy to him. All of us have been given the role of welcoming back those who have strayed. How do we do that? The only door is the door of mercy. As the Our Father says, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us”. This Sunday is a great opportunity for each one of us to realize that we have all been shown mercy. Even Moses was a lost sheep, saved from extermination by Pharaoh, and who encountered God when he was a long way from his own people. All of us need to remind ourselves constantly that God rejoices when he shows us mercy and welcomes us into the fold. The only way to find the faith is to experience mercy. Baptism, which is the forgiveness of sins, is the portal to all the other sacraments. When we are lost, when we need to “re-enter into ourselves” (like the Prodigal Son) then the only pathway is via the mercy of God. The older son did not realise how blessed he was to be constantly with the Father and to have access to all of his goods. We too need to appreciate the blessing that we enjoy in having access to the sacraments through the mercy of God. We should live always with our hearts rejoicing as at a festival because we are loved and forgiven.

 

ALTERNATIVE HOMILY

The parable of the merciful Father (the Prodigal Son) is told by Jesus in a specific situation: the Pharisees are complaining that Jesus welcomes sinners and eats with them. At the end of the parable, the elder son comes in from the field and complains to his father because he has welcomed back the sinful son and organised a banquet for him. The complaint of the Pharisees and the complaint of the elder son are identical! This parable must be applied to each one of us. At the time that Luke was writing his Gospel, the era of the scribes and Pharisees was already over. So how can we apply this parable to ourselves? The elder son has an image of sin that is identical to the false picture of sin given by the serpent to Adam and Eve in the garden. Satan creates the lie that sin brings enjoyment and fulfilment; he whispers to us that the Father is a taskmaster who wants us to live servile and miserable lives of sterile obedience. This is clearly the view of the elder son. When he sees the banquet going on, he is furious because, as he sees it, the younger son has had his fun whilst he (the older brother) has lived a life of tedious compliance. Is that our view of sin? As something enjoyable? The Father makes clear that sin is a form of death. It is humiliating and demeaning. Twice he says, “This brother was dead and has come to life: he was lost and is found”. This parable challenges us to stop looking on our heavenly Father in the way that the elder son looks upon him, and to stop looking on sin as a sort of forbidden fulfilment. That is the way that Satan wants us to view God: as a taskmaster who does not really want our happiness and completion. Instead we must learn to see our Father as one who considers us to be precious. Like the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son, we are of immeasurable value in the eyes of our father. He yearns for us to return to him for forgiveness.