(Audio)
‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’
We have a God who takes joy in finding the lost. He wants all 100 sheep to be accounted for. His joy is not full until each lost coin is accounted for, no matter how little or great the value of that coin seems to us. He runs out to meet the prodigal even after having been so thoroughly disrespected by him.
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.
Our God won't stand idly by while we choose to exclude ourselves and while we choose not to fully participate in his feast of joy. His heart desires that the table be full, surrounded by his children.
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
This heart which God has for us is the same heart which he helped to form and was delighted to see in Moses, who stood in the breach between the people of Israel and God's righteous anger. He was angry but he was glad to see Moses leading the people to the other side of that anger. The anger was more about the fact that Israel was choosing lesser feasts with false idols that could not bring them joy. He was truly glad to see Moses mediate their return to his fold.
But Moses implored the LORD, his God,
The heart of the Father is the same heart we are also called to have. It is a heart which will suffer none to be lost, which desires all to be saved, which longs to sit around the table and share life with brothers and sisters. To have this heart formed in us we need to learn the lesson of Paul in today's second reading.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
Of these I am the foremost.
Our own culpability shatters any illusions we have of entitlement. Knowing it helps us to appreciate and be thankful for the grace and mercy of God. It prevents us from excluding ourselves like the prodigal's older brother who did not appreciate all that he had from the father, and who in fact harbored secret dreams to spend the wealth apart from his father with his friends.
When we know how much God loves us, indeed how far beyond all reason he is willing to go to save us, we cannot help but praise.
To the king of ages, incorruptible, invisible, the only God,
honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
New Matt Maher:
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