24TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YR C
Exd 32:7-11,13-14 ; Ps 51
1Tim 1:12-17; Lk 15:1-32
GOD PURSUES THE SINNER
Our gospel opens with the murmuring and complain of the Pharisees at Jesus for socializing with the tax collectors and sinners. With this they seem to discredit Jesus as a holy and true prophet. But in reply Jesus reiterates the fact that it is for this very reason that he has come. To mingle with sinners in order to save them.
In him and in his ministry, God pursues the sinner and all those who, as it were are, at the fringes of salvation. He teaches this to the Pharisees by means of three parables: the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son. In this reflection I would like to focus on the first two parables.
We read that a shepherd who realises that he has lost one of a hundred sheep, leaves the ninety-nine in search of the one until he finds it. When he found it “he lays it on his shoulder, rejoicing…” (Lk 15:5-6). It was the same with the lost coin. The woman sweeps the whole room until she finds it. Then she rejoices with neighbours.
These two parables tell us about the situation of a sinner. The sheep when lost can bleat and make movement. It represents the sinner who knows he has sinned and can still call upon God to come to his help. Those who are still trying to find their way home to God. Those whose spiritual life is “on and off”. The coin on the other hand can neither shout or make any movement. These are people who are far from the Lord. They can no longer call for help. Those whose weaknesses overwhelm them. They have given up on trying or calling for help. They begin to feel that even God is fed up with them.
No matter your situation, Jesus came for you. Are you feeling lost? Do you feel that you cannot be forgiven? Hear the good news: God through Jesus Christ loves you till death.
What kind of shepherd leaves ninety-nine sheep to go after one? Who throws a party for a found coin? What kind of God goes after a sinner?
Only the one whose love and mercy transcends all faults. God’s love is bigger than our sins. He loves the sinner but not the sin because the sinner can abandon sin and become better. In fact God’s love and mercy frees us and empowers us to be better. Pope Benedict XVI says, “we must trust in the mighty power of God’s mercy. We are all sinners but his grace transforms us and makes us new”.
God comes after us because every soul is important to him. Yes, you are important and precious. He will not rest until you are found. He pursues us to the point of sending his only begotten son, Jesus, to die for you. No matter your situation God wants to have you back. It doesn’t matter what you have done. He just wants you to return to him. It doesn’t matter how far you think you have gone from his grace. No distance is too far for him.
These parables which is an answer to the Pharisees, teach us also that those of us who think we are righteous should not become obstacles to the conversion of others. When we in anyway become obstacles to others, then, we too need conversion. He pursues all of us to save us.
God is pursuing you even as you read this reflection. Even as you take the Bible to read, when you gaze upon a cross. Will you respond to him? Do not be afraid. He is happy to have you back.
God bless you.
By Fr. Delight Arnold Carbonu
