A Reflection for the 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C).
Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14 – 1Timothy 1:12-17 – Luke 15:1-32.
In a Nigerian parish, an evening prayer service attracted over a thousand people. The open-air compound was chock-full. Among the crowd was a woman with her three children. She kept a sharp eye on them, of course, and held the hands of the younger two, but when her attention was momentarily distracted, her eldest child (he was only five years old) wandered off and got himself well and truly lost in the crowd. At first, when she set off in search of her son, the mother was furious with him, because she had expected him to do as he was told and not let her out of his sight. When it dawned on her that her son really was missing, she started shouting for him and weeping with fear. The people around her responded with alacrity to her cries. They dispersed to look for the boy, leaving her to look after the other two children. The search overnight proved fruitless and everyone feared the worst, but at first light he was found. A local Good Samaritan, who had come across him alone and frightened in the dark, had taken him in and looked after him overnight. What an agonising night that was for the mother. When the little boy was returned safely to her, she embraced him lovingly with tears. He was crying too, because he hadn’t been able to find his way back to her on his own, and as well as being lost, he had felt lost without her.
That little story of the mum and her lost son has a happy ending, doesn’t it? I’d like you to hold that story in your heart and to give it much thought today. Why? Because I think it can help you and me to deepen our understanding of how much God longs for us to come back to Him whenever we go off track and get lost – and how much He rejoices when we return to Him. God is Love, and He never ever gives up on us!
In the Gospel reading, Jesus uses three parables – the parable of the Lost Sheep, the parable of the Lost Coin (the drachma), and the parable of the Prodigal Son – to deliver the message that God never gives up in His unremitting search for each and every lost soul, and the He rejoices when they’re back with Him.
The parable of the Lost Sheep was probably directed towards the Jewish community, because local people would have been familiar with seeing flocks of sheep grazing the area in readiness for Passover, religious duties, and for general consumption. Jesus’ focus here is on the one sheep that got lost, became distressed and needed rescuing by the shepherd. What would have resonated with the leaders of Israel was His admonishing of them as failed ‘shepherds’ of God’s people (Ezek 34:7ff), in contrast to God who does shepherd His people (Ezek 34:11). What Jesus is actually telling the Jewish community leaders is that because they have failed in their duty to seek out people who have got lost, to rescue people who have become separated from God, He Himself has come to be the Shepherd of Israel, the Shepherd of the people of God. Why is that important to us here today? Because the flock of 99 safe sheep is incomplete and becomes whole only when the lost member is returned and reinstated.
The parable of the Lost Coin may have been directed towards Jewish tax collectors because they dealt with finance on a daily basis. On the other hand, these men were absolutely loathed by ordinary working people and perceived as sinners and outcasts (Mt 18:17): they were collaborators with the Roman authorities and helped themselves to a cut of the tax monies. Cash was hard for ordinary people to come by, and they lived mostly by barter. The lost coin probably came from savings or a dowry, and was therefore of value to the woman in more ways than one. In the same way as the missing sheep was needed to make the flock complete and whole again, so the missing coin was needed to restore the necklace properly.
The parable of the Prodigal Son, however, was – and is – addressed to everyone, as well as to each one of us today, so that we may gain insight and confidence in the nature of God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness for us. Like the lost sheep and the lost coin, we may neither realise that we have got lost, nor appreciate our need to be found and restored to the group (the Church). Jesus states explicitly at the end of each parable that rejoicing only happens after a sinner repents, not before.
When we find ourselves mired in sin, it is God, first of all, who is unhappy about our sinfulness. The point to take on board today is that God does not treat us according to our sins (Ps 103:10) but with love and compassion. God is slow to anger and abounding in merciful love (Ps 103:8; 145:8). In the First reading, although God was furious with His people, He forgave them when Moses pleaded for pardon. The parable of the Prodigal Son assures us that God cares about the salvation of individuals. If God can look out for one child of His that is lost, how much more will He look out for the many who have lost their way. Whenever you sense you are lost in sin and far from grace, remember that God does not condemn you (Jn 8:11); Jesus is interested in you personally, and He looks out for you. He wants you to return to Him like the Prodigal Son for where sin increased, grace increased all the more (Rom 5:20).
Are you ready to accept Jesus’ offer of salvation when you realise you’ve got lost in sinfulness? Are you prepared to confess your sins, weaknesses and shortcomings to God, who alone can grant forgiveness of sins, and who alone can give you the grace you need to be fulfilled and made whole? May you reach out and grab God’s mercy and grace! Amen. God bless you.