03
Nov
Nov
Reflection: Luke 15:1-10
The scribes and the Pharisees who witnessed Jesus’ teachings and signs were scandalised and murmured against him. What scandalised them most was the fact that “Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners, and that he moved with them”. It is unforgivable for the Pharisees to welcome sinners and eat with them. And Jesus responds to this murmuring hypocrisy with the parables which speaks of the “joy and rejoicing.” The single message of the three ‘lost and found’ parables of Luke, chapter 15 is God’s joy. Jesus wants to make one single point clear to his listeners and to us today: Ours is a God “who does not like to lose what is his, and in order not to lose his own, he goes out and seeks out” the lost. Our God is a God who searches. For “God cannot abide losing what is his; thus, during his last supper, according to the Gospel of John, we listen to his prayer ‘that none of those whom thou hast given me may be lost’”. Indeed, God “has a certain weakness of love for those who are furthest away, who are lost. He goes in search of them. Like the shepherd who journeys into the darkness looking for his lost sheep until he finds it” or “like the woman who, when she loses her coin, lights a lamp, sweeps the house and seeks diligently until she finds it”. “When he finds us, when he has found the lost sheep” he does not ask us: “Why did you get lost? Why did you fall?” Rather, he restores what was lost to its proper place. And when this happens “it is God who rejoices. God rejoices not in the death of the sinner but rather that he be restored to life. The lost and found parables of Luke has a speciality – they reveal the forgiveness and mercy of God and this forgiveness is without conditions. No questions are asked. A sheep can be lost, coins can be lost… and a son can leave home. They are not under control. The inevitable possibility of loss does not destroy the immense love and mercy of God. God the Father is not stainless steel. The loss of any one of his children – only one – hurts his heart as a compassionate father. For him, each one of us has as much importance and value as the whole of humanity. No one is excluded. God never despises any of his sons and daughters. Some churches celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation as an occasion of great feast. And that is why the Eucharist is also a great feast where God has his children around his table, reconciled to him and to one another. Let us join the joy of God.