Twenty-fourth Sunday In Ordinary Time
LUKE 15:1-32
“Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear Jesus.” This headline introduc-es three stories (parables) that could be called “Lost and Found.” Tax collectors were local agents who bought from the Roman occupation forces a franchise to collect taxes from their fellow Jews. They were hated not only because they worked for the Roman government but because of dishonesty in collecting taxes. Thus in Luke 3:13, John the Baptizer advises repenting tax collectors, “Collect no more than you are authorized to collect.” Sinners included a wide sweep of humanity. Among others: Gentiles, merchants, physicians, and any whose business included dealing with women. Even the handicapped were sometimes included among sinners – the judgment being that the handicap was a punishment for a sin of the handicapped individual or his or her parents.
Jesus defends his association with “the Lost” by three parables. In the first, a shepherd has one hundred sheep. One gets lost. The shepherd leaves the ninety-nine to hunt for the lost sheep. When he finds it, he brings it home and throws a party for friends and neighbors. Is the story true to life? Hardly. No sane shepherd would abandon ninety-nine sheep in the wilderness to hunt for a lost sheep. The moral of the story is that God so “insanely” cares about us, that no effort is spared to bring a sinner back home. Thus the parable ends, “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” The second parable: a lost coin. A woman loses a coin. She lights a lamp, sweeps the house, and seeks diligently until she finds it. She calls together friends and neighbors, “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin I had lost.” Is this true to life? If it were a gold coin at the price gold has today, a party might be in order. The moral of the story: the same as that of the lost and found sheep. “There will be more joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
The best known of the three Lost and Found Parables is that of the Lost Son, usually call-ed “The Prodigal Son.” The word “prodigal” is understood as freely spending one’s resources. A man had two sons. The younger wanted to leave home, and asked for his share of the inheritance. The father divides his possessions, between them. Is this true to life? The father did not read the Book of Sirach 33:20-24, “Do not give your property to anyone else, in case you regret it and have to ask for it back…. It is better for your child-ren to request your generosity than to depend on theirs. The day your life draws to a close, when death is approaching, is the time to distribute your inheritance.”
What the younger son did with his inheritance is well known. When he had reached the depths of degradation, he came to his senses – somewhat like Jonah in the depths of the sea, then ending up as fish vomit. He remembers the good life that even the servants of his father had. He repents and returns to his father. He acknowledges his sin and asks to be no more than a servant in his former home. The father’s love pours over his repentant son. He receives him not as a servant but as an honored guest, “a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.” A welcoming banquet follows, the main course, “a fatted calf,” kept only for the most special occasions, like a wedding. The father’s explanation: “This my son was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.” And they partied.
Is this true to life? Many fathers would have said, “You made your bed. Now sleep in it.” Not so the heavenly Father, “the Divine Fool.” In the eyes of the world he made a fool of himself, but God’s unlimited forgiveness is difficult to imitate. How true the proverb: “To err is human: to forgive, divine.” The elder son is more human than divine. In his anger, he objects to receiving and celebrating “this son of yours, who ate up your living with prostitutes.” The Divine Fool is not swayed by human reasoning. He expresses his love also for the elder son, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to party because this brother of yours was dead and is alive, was lost and is found.” The father reminds the elder son that he is still the brother of the repentant sinner.
EXODUS 32:7-11, 13-14
This reading was chosen to accompany the gospel because it includes the themes of re-pentance and forgiveness, especially illustrated in the parable of the prodigal son. The Lord was angry with the grumbling, idolatrous Israelites. To Moses the Lord proposes a plan – to let his fury destroy “this stiff-necked people.” An added bonus was in it for Moses, “Then I will make of you a great nation.” Moses pleads with God: “Forget this plan.” Why? God made certain promises to their ancestors, thus God’s reputation is at stake. Also because God has “such great power and so strong a hand.” Meaning: the greater and stronger one is, the more ready one should be to forgive.
1 TIMOTHY 1:12-17
Even today’s second reading can be fitted into the themes of repentance and forgiveness. Paul recalls that once he was “a blasphemer, a persecutor, and arrogant.” But God was merciful to him, “because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief.” Why was God merciful to him? “Because Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”
