The Good News of the Lord for the Lost and for the saved
Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR
Homily for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, 2010
Holy Names Church
Bishop William Gordon Wheeler, the Bishop of Leeds, England (1966-1985) usually told a story of what happened to him when he was once lost while going to a speaking engagement. He was going to St. George’s Hall in the city of Bradford to give a talk, but completely lost his way. Just like me who once got lost after taking Father Maurice to the airport when I first came to Memphis, the Bishop found himself in a merry-go round trip. After driving round and round in the car, unable to find the right street, he eventually saw a young boy standing beside the road. So he stopped the car to ask the boy for direction. Winding down the widow, he said to the boy, “Please, I am hopelessly lost; can you tell me how to get to St. George’s Hall?” Now instead of giving instructions, the boy began an interview session. He asked the Bishop, “Why do you want to go there?” “I am going to give a talk,” replied Bishop Wheeler, “and I am already late.” The boy asked again “What’s the talk about?” “Well, it’s about how to get to heaven,” said the Bishop, “would you like to come and hear it?” But the boy replied, “How will you be able to tell me how to get to heaven when you don’t even know the way to St. George’s Hall?”
Dearest in Jesus, today’s gospel can be rightly called “the good news of hope for the lost sheep and for the saved.” It is the good news for the lost because the lost still have a chance of being saved. It is the good news for the lost because the Father through Jesus is still going after them, searching for them in order to bring them into the fold of the saved. It is the good news for the lost because Jesus will do anything to save them. It is also the good news for the saved because if they ever strayed, the one who loves them will go in search of them to bring them back to the fold.
The three parables in today’s gospel arose out of definite situations. For the Pharisees and Scribes, Jesus had committed a great offense to associate himself with men and women who by their orthodox label were sinners. To the people who did not keep the details of the law, the Pharisees called “the People of the Land.” The Pharisees created a big wall between them and such people. There was no relationship, no interaction, no inter-marriage between the children of the Pharisees and the sinners. The Pharisees had no iota of respect for the Sinners. A Pharisee was forbidden to be the guest of any such man or to have him as his guest. He was forbidden to have any business dealings with him. The Pharisees made deliberate effort to avoid every contact with the people who did not observe the petty details of the law. So they were shocked to their bone marrow to see Jesus surrounded by people who were not only ranked outsiders, but sinners. They were so shocked because while they taught that “There will be joy in heaven over one sinner that is destroyed before God” Jesus taught the opposite, “There will be great joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.” While they did not look forward to the saving redemption of sinners, Jesus the merciful Savior was teaching about God first as a Shepherd who goes in search of the lost sheep; then as a woman who bends low even under the bed searching for a lost coin. And when the sinner comes back to his or her senses and returns home, the Father is presented by Jesus as one who does not recount or remember or turn back the returning sinner. Unlike us, the Father does not say “You wayward daughter (son), why are you here? What are you doing here? Who asked you to come here? If you know where you are coming from, you better return there.” Instead, the Father runs to meet us while we are still halfway home. The Father does not wait for us to begin to list the litany of our sins; he already knows that we are deeply sorry and repentant for our transgressions. He welcomes us with an open arm, and crowns it all with a big celebration and party. God is pleased when a lost sinner is found just as a shepherd is when a strayed sheep is brought home. As a saint once said, “God, too, knows the joy of finding things that have gone lost.”
Today Jesus wants to help us come to a deeper understanding of God’s searching undying love, so he used the example of three things that were lost and then found. These images teach us important truths, both about God and about ourselves.
The first parable of the lost sheep reminds us that God cares about individuals. Like the shepherd in today’s gospel, God does not give up on one person just because it is the minority. Every single person is important to God. God so desires while keeping the obedient majority safe, to go after the lost minority. In God, the majority must give way to the minority. In God the majority does not come between God and God’s frantic and tireless search for the missing or strayed minority. God does not say “Well, it is only the minority, I still got the majority. God does not say, “It is only one sheep, I still have ninety-nine left.” He continues to search for that one lost sheep in order to bring it home. This is why Jesus says in the gospel of Luke 19: 10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save those who are lost.” Again in the gospel of John 10:11, the Lord describes himself as the good shepherd: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Jesus goes in search of even one single sheep because “God wants all humans to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1Timothy 2:4). God wants to save every one because in Ezekiel 33:11, the God of Israel declares “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather they turn from their evil ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?” Today, we are the new Israel.
When the missing sheep is found, it is not punished by the shepherd. Rather, the shepherd joyfully lifts the sheep high on his shoulders, raising the one who was lost to a new dignity. The lost sheep’s diminished dignity is restored by the shepherd.
In the second parable, God is like the woman searching out a missing coin. Like the woman, God does not say “I still got some money in the bank.” God continues to search for the lost one even in the dark places of the world. The parable of the lost coin tells us the extent God can go in searching for us. It tells us of God’s urgent longing that no one should be lost. The woman in the parable stops at nothing; God does not stop until God finds the lost.
The last parable in today’s gospel is usually called “the parable of prodigal son.” It is about an arrogant son who rejects all the comfort and the security his father provides in order to do things his own way. It was after he has squandered the portion of his inheritance that he remembers how different things had been, how different they would have been if he had remained at home. Having lost everything and almost loosing himself, he decided to go home. The action of his father describes the action of God to us when we return home from the loneliness of sin and sinfulness. In the parable, the father was looking forward to the homeward journey of his son. The father’s passionate merciful embrace and his restoration of his child to his rightful place reveal something about our God. God’s love for us knows no limit.
In these parables, Jesus reveals God’s passionate longing that those who are lost, those who have sinned, those who are in the church but far away from God, those who praise God from the lips only, those who despise others, those who look down on others, those who profess God with their mouth but in their actions deny him return home. But where is home? Home is the place of God. Home is where God is and where godly things are done. Home is the place where love and charity are found. Home is the place where forgiveness is given to offenders. Home is where none of God’s children is excluded because she or he is judged not belong. Home is where all God’s children are equal. Home is where there is no immorality of any kind. Home is where the good news for the poor is proclaimed. Home is where even sinners are welcomed. That is home!
Dearest beloved, Jesus is the good shepherd who searches for us far more intensely than a shepherd seeks a lost sheep; he looks for us more than a woman searches for a lost coin. Jesus looks forward to our homeward journey more than the father of the prodigal son. Our heavenly Father will not rest until we all are back close to God’s heart where we belong, and when we return, there is great celebration and rejoicing in heaven.
Now allowing ourselves to be found by God is not a one-off event. It is not a one-time event, it’s lifelong process. It is something we should do from time to time. We can make a fundamental decision to follow Jesus Christ, this we did especially at our baptism and confirmation. But then, none of us is beyond the need for repentance. We must constantly allow ourselves to be found by God. We must constantly pray that others who are far away from God are found by God. We must give those who are far away a chance to be found by God. This is why I called today’s gospel “the good news of the Lord for the lost.”
For us Catholics, the sacrament of reconciliation is a beautiful means of making these parables come to life in our personal discipleship. Each time we go to confession, God like the shepherd in the first parable, lifts us up again and places us on the shoulders of the Good Shepherd. Whenever we humbly and sincerely confess our sins, like the woman who “lights a lamp and sweep the house” in order to find the missing coin, the light of Christ begins to shine on us; the house of our heart is once again swept clean. And when we receive absolution from the priest, like the father of the prodigal son who ran to embrace his homebound son, our good God embraces us anew as his precious daughter or son. Since there is rejoicing in heaven when a sinner repents and returns home, why not give the angels something to celebrate about?
This is surely the good news of the Lord for the lost and for the saved.
