24th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

Gaze at the face of Jesus

See his compassion for you

His sadness at your sin

-         because it destroys you.

His patience with your weakness

His longing to heal you and

Be your friend.

Let him speak to your heart

Go beyond the picture to the Person

24^th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

Exodus 32: 7-11.13-14, Ps50:3-4.12-13.17.19.Rv.Lk.15:18, 1Tim1:12-17.,

The Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

A pure heart create for me O God.

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners

We are going to have a feast; my son was dead and has come back to life.

Luke 15: 1-32

 

 your brother here was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found.

¹ The tax collectors and sinners, however, were all crowding round to listen to him, ² and the Pharisees and scribes complained saying, 'This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.' ³ So he told them this parable: ⁴ 'Which one of you with a hundred sheep, if he lost one, would fail to leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the missing one till he found it? ⁵ And when he found it, would he not joyfully take it on his shoulders ⁶ and then, when he got home, call together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, "Rejoice with me, I have found my sheep that was lost." ⁷ In the same way, I tell you, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner repenting than over ninety-nine upright people who have no need of repentance. ⁸ '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? ⁹ And then, when she had found it, call together her friends and neighbours, saying to them, "Rejoice with me, I have found the drachma I lost." ¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one repentant sinner.' ¹¹ Then he said, 'There was a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger one said to his father, "Father, let me have the share of the estate that will come to me." So the father divided the property between them. ¹³ 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. ¹⁴ 'When he had spent it all, that country experienced a severe famine, and now he began to feel the pinch; ¹⁵ so he hired himself out to one of the local inhabitants who put him on his farm to feed the pigs. ¹⁶ And he would willingly have filled himself with the husks the pigs were eating but no one would let him have them. ¹⁷ Then he came to his senses and said, "How many of my father's hired men have all the food they want and more, and here am I dying of hunger! ¹⁸ I will leave this place and go to my father and say: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; ¹⁹ I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired men." ²⁰ 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. ²¹ Then his son said, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son." ²² 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. ²³ Bring the calf we have been fattening, and kill it; we will celebrate by having a feast, ²⁴ because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found." And they began to celebrate. ²⁵ '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. ²⁶ Calling one of the servants he asked what it was all about. ²⁷ The servant told him, "Your brother has come, and your father has killed the calf we had been fattening because he has got him back safe and sound." ²⁸ He was angry then and refused to go in, and his father came out and began to urge him to come in; ²⁹ but he retorted to his father, "All these years I have slaved for you and never once disobeyed any orders of yours, yet you never offered me so much as a kid for me to celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But, for this son of yours, when he comes back after swallowing up your property -- he and his loose women -- you kill the calf we had been fattening." ³¹ 'The father said, "My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours. ³² 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." '

Is he the God you know?

The scum of society was seeking the company of Jesus. The Pharisees were scandalized because Jesus mixed with the wrong people. They weren’t just sinners, their life style made them outcasts. ‘Good people’ would never be seen in their company. But Jesus welcomed them! Not only that he sat with them and had meals with them. He was one of their group. The Pharisees would welcome them back if they repented and gave up their evil lifestyle. But Jesus didn’t ask them to repent. He was their friend.

Jesus gives the Pharisees the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin and then the lost son. He is trying to say, ‘they are my people, my brothers and sisters. That is why I mix with them’. We can only lose something, which is ours, even if we only borrowed it. God in Jesus longs for their return and it is this love and desire, which makes Jesus be one with them. Jesus feels that if he expresses his love through kindness and the warmth of fellowship he may touch their hearts. This love and warmth will still be there even if they do not come back. He will continue to welcome them and eat with them even if they do not repent.

            A woman who becomes a mother after years of marriage can be so thrilled as she looks at her baby. The baby is hers and she guards it with the jealousy of superabundant love. She cares for it night and day. Others may think she is a little ‘over the top’ but she isn’t. This is the nature of love. She will do anything and spend everything for her child. She will be night and day at the bed side if sickness should strike. In today’s Gospel Jesus is trying to tell us that this love is nothing compared to God’s love for you. Whatever you do, you cannot lose his love. He longs for you and just wants you to come to him. The picture of God the Father which Jesus wants to paint is in the sentence, “while he was still a long way off, his father saw him. He was moved with pity and running out fell on his neck and kissed him. Then calling his servants he said; put the best robe on him, a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet and kill the fattened calf and let us make a feast”. The father is God the Father and the son who has returned is you.

            This is who God is. Is this your image of God? Have you experienced God as one who loves you passionately? Or, have you just learnt it in a ‘class’? As a child of God do you feel like imitating him in your relations with others?

Father, may I taste your love so that I can show the same love to others.