OT XXIV [C] Ex 32:7-11, 13-14; I Tm 1:12-17; Lk 15:1-32

Everyone has lost something at one time or another.  There is even a website complete with mobile app, http://www.lostandfound.com, that acts as a global ‘lost and found’ box. Users can report items missing and users can report items found. It is a good example of how technology can help people connect in a useful way. This is a gateway site for all of the physical things that can be retrieved and returned to their rightful owners. According to their statistics, about twice as many objects have been reported lost as have been reported found in the U.S. So, the site’s users are losing things at twice the rate they are finding them. — Haven’t we all had the experience of losing things that we know deep down we will never recover? Depending on the situation, we can feel disappointed, heartbroken, hopeless, or simply discouraged by our own inability to keep up with things. Some Catholics invoke St. Antony who is the patron for the lost things. Isn’t it a wonderful relief to know that we will never fall into the ‘Lost Forever’ category? Isn’t it reassuring to know that God will never give up on us?

All the 3 parables in Luke 15 show us vividly that God cares about each one of us: he will not rest if only one sheep is missing, or one coin is lost. They show us that He cares deeply enough to go out of His way to save us when we are lost: it was certainly an inconvenience to go bushwhacking after the foolish stray sheep, and to light the lamp and sweep the dirt-floored house trying to find the lost coin.

Finding of the lost objects in the parable shows that God rejoices when we return to him, as the shepherd rejoices upon retrieving his sheep, and as the woman rejoices upon recovering her coin - every sinner who returns to God causes a joyful celebration to break out in the halls of heaven and the heart of the Father.

The self-righteous and judgmental comments of the Pharisees, provided the occasion for these parables to be told by Jesus. If the Pharisees had possessed Christ's power and authority, they would have destroyed all "sinners." But Christ uses all his power and authority to bring sinners back into communion with God.

The Pharisees can't understand this, because they have painted their image of God in their own likeness. They enjoy condemning others for being less perfect than themselves, because it feeds their vanity, making them feel superior. God’s limitless and entirely selfless desire to save sinners was revealed most fully by Christ on the cross, but it is also the main theme behind every other episode in salvation history.

We just listened to one of those episodes from the OT.  While Moses had been up on the mountain in prayer, receiving the Law from God's own hands, the Israelites down in the valley had lost hope and abandoned their faith. Instead of continuing to trust in the God who had already done so many miracles to save them from slavery and lead them to safety, they gave up on God. They rebelled against him, turned their backs on him, and built an idol out of gold. From the Pharisees' perspective, God should have simply destroyed them. That's the natural view of things, which God seems to adopt in his conversation with Moses, when he says he is going to destroy these faithless, stiff-necked people. But God doesn't mean it. He is only testing Moses. And Moses passes the test.

It is sometimes hard for our fallen human nature to see God's mercy clearly. We tend to be judgmental, so we also tend to project that - wrongly - onto God. This wrong conception can be detrimental to our maturity and peace of mind. It puts a wall around our own hearts, so that God's love can't reach in and transform us.

Let us realize the truth that our brothers and sisters deserve and expect from us the same compassion, kindness and forgiveness which we receive from our merciful God. As forgiven prodigals, we must become forgiving people, for Jesus taught us to pray, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” 

Jesus is not asking us to be like either of the two brothers in the parable, because both were far from perfect.  Let us try and be like the father in the story. “Be made perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Be compassionate as the heavenly Father is.”

It is important to find out our own faults and sins and become aware of them so that we can humble ourselves before God and ask forgiveness. Before we go to bed at night, make it a habit to examine our conscience and confess to God our sins and failures of the day, asking His pardon and forgiveness. As the prodigal son came to his senses we also need to come to our senses and realize where we stand before God each day.

As we continue with the celebration of the Holy Mass, let us pray also for God’s Divine mercy on all of us who have fallen away from God’s grace.  Let us open our eyes to see and ears to hear that Jesus is welcoming us back home! And there will be a great rejoicing in heaven over our returning home.