From the responsorial psalm: “Look to the LORD in his strength; seek to serve him constantly. Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought, his portents, and the judgments he has uttered. Let hearts rejoice who search for the Lord.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 15:1-10)
“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.’”
Today’s Gospel begins with tax collectors and sinners drawing near to listen to Jesus. As they come to him, the Pharisees begin to complain, threatened by what he is teaching them and the example he sets in his treatment of them. Speaking out of love to the righteousness of the Pharisees and the sinners who draw near to him, Jesus tells the parable of the single lost sheep and the single lost coin. No less important is every one of the 99 sheep and each of the 9 coins, but the lost sheep and the lost coin represent finding and bringing back the repentant into the care of the supreme good of the Father. Jesus says, “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.” The parable speaks to the hearts of the Pharisees and to the sinners who cling to Jesus’ every word.
God, on hearing this parable so many times throughout my life, I might easily take for granted that Jesus does not allow me to remain in a liminal state, neither here nor there. If in genuine righteousness, remaining in your truth, I experience your grace and mercy, there your love is. If I sin, I know your mercy as the Father of Mercies in the sacrament of reconciliation and am found and am drawn near to you. Help me see this today. In your radical love of your children, I have a perpetual call to give all glory to you with thanks and praise. Let hearts rejoice who search for you, Lord!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
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