PROLOGUE
Today’s Scripture readings from Luke deal with something lost and found again. They all speak of God as seeker of us who may be lost or separated. His overwhelming love for us will never let Him be satisfied until He finds what is lost and bring it home again.
SCRIPTURE LUKE 15:1-7
the parable of the lost sheep.
JESUS CAME TO SEEK AND SAVE THE LOST
LUKE 19:10
The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to him, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, this man welcomes sinners and eats with them. So to them he addressed this parable.
What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep. ’I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.
JESUS EMBRACES WHAT WAS LOST AND NOW FOUND
REFLECTION
We notice in this passage that sinners were drawing near to hear the words of Christ. It is the self-righteous who complain about the company Jesus keeps. Jesus came to save sinners. Thanks be to God, for we are all sinners.
Jesus tells them a parable that makes no practical sense. After all, what shepherd would leave all his sheep unattended while hunting for another? He would lose them all. But the profound lesson of parable is clear; those already in the fold have no need of salvation; it is the one that went astray.
The celebration at home with his friends is a mirror of the joy in heaven over one sinner being saved. Then Jesus pokes the Pharisees who consider themselves righteous. Listen up Pharisees I have come to save you but if you believe you have no need for salvation, then it isn’t going to end well for you.
SCRIPTURE LUKE 15:8-10
the parable of the lost coin.
Or what woman having ten coins and losing one would not light a lamp and sweep the house, searching carefully until she finds it? And when she does find it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’ In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
REFLECTION
Again, Jesus in second parable demonstrates the joy in heaven over finding lost souls and restoring them to a share in Divine Life. That woman in picture above is searching every nook and cranny, down on her knees, praying she find what she has lost. Do we pray when we are lost that we be found?
God never ceases to seek us! Let us be found! I am reminded of a few verses of Catholic poet Francis Thompson’s poem, Hound of Heaven.
I fled Him, down the nights and down the days; I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter. Up vistaed hopes I sped……
From those strong Feet that followed, followed after. But with unhurrying chase, And unperturbèd pace, Deliberate speed, majestic instancy, They beat—and a Voice beat
More instant than the Feet—‘All things betray thee, that betrayest Me.’
SCRIPTURE LUKE 15:11-32
the parable of the lost son.
Then he said, “A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’ So the father divided the property between them. After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.
When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need. So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine. And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any.
Coming to his senses he thought, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger. I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.” So he got up and went back to his father.
THE FATHER SEES THE SON A LONG WAY OFF
AND GOES TO MEET THE PRODIGAL SON
While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. 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. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.’ Then the celebration began.
Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean. The servant said to him, ‘Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
The older son 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, ‘Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’
He said to him, ‘My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.
THE OLDER SON REFUSES THE FATHER’S INVITATION
REFLECTION
There is a lot to unpack in the parable of the Prodigal Son. First off, the younger son had no right to demand his inheritance before the death of his father, diminishing the wealth of the living Father and older son.
Often we act the same way in demanding from God what we have no right to. We are creatures after all completely dependent on our Creator for the very air we breathe. We have no right to place demands on God. We were created to know, love, and serve God in this world and be happy with Him in the next.
the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation. The son separated himself from the Father like we sometimes do, and found himself in a mess of woe, like we sometimes do.
The son, Coming to his senses….What does this mean? It is a foreshadowing of the Holy Spirit that Jesus promises in John 16:8, “I will send the advocate to you. And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation” The Holy Spirit informs our conscience and leads us to conversion if we let Him.
We see in this parable the act of conversion, the turning back to the Father, “I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son…The son accepts his responsibility for his acts that make him an unworthy son. Pray to the Spirit for conversion of heart, acknowledge our guilt and pledge to sin no more.
While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him…The Father sought the prodigal son every day, saw him from afar and rushed to embrace his son. God looks for us every day. Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation” 2 Corinthians 6:2 There is no better time to go home to the Father.
Let the celebration begin, let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.’ This celebration is not only on the Father’s estate but in heaven as well. ’ In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Luke 15:7
Now let’s focus on the older son who was out in the field working, doing all he should be doing to support his father and the estate. Doesn’t he have a point of being ticked off.? Yes, he does, probably a whole history of what he perceived as favoritism by the father towards the younger son.
Resentment is a terrible sin. It keeps us angry, torn up inside, separates us from the one we are making judgment on, and mostly harmful to ourselves. Often times, we resent perceived grievances when no one intentionally meant to harm us. Let us clean and purge resentments from our hearts. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Matthew 6:14. What do we have to lose, only those bad disturbing feelings we harbor?
The Father in the parable said to the older son, “My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.”
If we are a faithful practicing Catholic do we resent those we deem less worthy? Stop it! God will do the judging. The wheat from the chaff will be separated at harvest time. While the older son was doing his Father’s will daily around the estate, he could not find in his heart his Father’s forgiveness of the son who was lost but now is found. We must rejoice even in death bed conversions
I am reminded of the parable of the workers Matthew 20:1-16, “….When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first. The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius.
When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
Which of the three characters do you identify with, father, older son, or prodigal son or perhaps all three at different times of your life?