BIBLE STUDY #150
TWENTY FOURTH SUNDAY
IN ORDINARY TIME
September 15, 2013
The LORD
said to Moses,
“Go down at once to your people,
whom you brought out of theland
of Egypt
for they have become depraved.
They have soon turned aside from the way I pointed out to them,
making for themselves a molten calf and worshiping it,
sacrificing to it and crying out,
‘This is your God, O Israel,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’
“I see how stiff-necked this people is,” continued the LORD to Moses.
Let me alone, then,
that my wrath may blaze up against them to consume them.
Then I will make of you a great nation.”
But Moses implored the LORD, his God, saying,
“Why, O LORD, should your wrath blaze up against your own people,
whom you brought out of the land of Egypt
with such great power and with so strong a hand?
Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, andIsrael
and how you swore to them by your own self, saying,
‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky;
and all this land that I promised,
I will give your descendants as their perpetual heritage.’”
So the LORD relented in the punishment
he had threatened to inflict on his people.
“Go down at once to your people,
whom you brought out of the
for they have become depraved.
They have soon turned aside from the way I pointed out to them,
making for themselves a molten calf and worshiping it,
sacrificing to it and crying out,
‘This is your God, O Israel,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’
“I see how stiff-necked this people is,” continued the LORD to Moses.
Let me alone, then,
that my wrath may blaze up against them to consume them.
Then I will make of you a great nation.”
But Moses implored the LORD, his God, saying,
“Why, O LORD, should your wrath blaze up against your own people,
whom you brought out of the land of Egypt
with such great power and with so strong a hand?
Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and
and how you swore to them by your own self, saying,
‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky;
and all this land that I promised,
I will give your descendants as their perpetual heritage.’”
So the LORD relented in the punishment
he had threatened to inflict on his people.
The Word of the Lord
Beloved:
I am grateful to him who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord,
because he considered me trustworthy
in appointing me to the ministry.
I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and arrogant,
but I have been mercifully treated
because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief.
Indeed, the grace of our Lord has been abundant,
along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance:
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
Of these I am the foremost.
But for that reason I was mercifully treated,
so that in me, as the foremost,
Christ Jesus might display all his patience as an example
for those who would come to believe in him for everlasting life.
To the king of ages, incorruptible, invisible, the only God,
honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
I am grateful to him who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord,
because he considered me trustworthy
in appointing me to the ministry.
I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and arrogant,
but I have been mercifully treated
because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief.
Indeed, the grace of our Lord has been abundant,
along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance:
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
Of these I am the foremost.
But for that reason I was mercifully treated,
so that in me, as the foremost,
Christ Jesus might display all his patience as an example
for those who would come to believe in him for everlasting life.
To the king of ages, incorruptible, invisible, the only God,
honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
The Word
of the Lord
Gospel
Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to
Jesus,
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.
“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.”
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.
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.’
He 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.’”
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.
“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.”
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.
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.’
He 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 Gospel
of the Lord
Reflection
Today our gospel is
unusually long – 32 verses, which consists of three parables: the lost sheep,
the lost coin, and the lost son. The
church gives us the option of reading only the first 2 parables, which are only
10 verses long. Personally, unless there is a very good reason, I always read
the long version.
These three parables all
have the same theme, which is why they are grouped together. They deal with
those who have wandered away and were lost and what the communities should do
when they return or are brought back. Luke is being practical – he is applying
Jesus teachings to everyday life.
The gospel starts out by
telling us that “Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to
Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, " ‘This man
welcomes sinners and eats with them.’"
This tells us that all are
welcome in our assemblies. Jesus is the welcoming host who excludes no one from
the heavenly banquet. The Pharisees and Scribes remind us of the self-righteous
people in our midst that complain about sinners in their assemblies (as if they
were not part of that group!).
The second and third
parables are found only in Luke. The first parable has a parallel in Matthew
18:10-14, also called the Parable of the Lost Sheep.
The parable of the Lost
Sheep in Luke is about how much God seeks us when we are lost, and the shepherd
(and therefore God) doesn’t give up until we are found. God does reach out to
us in many ways: scripture, tradition, prayer, sacraments, and people, to
mention a few. I think that we make a mistake when we think about God reaching
out to us – we view it as a divine miracle in which God ‘zaps’ us and changes
us into someone different. God respects our free will and will never force
himself on us. In order for God to find us, we need to be looking for God
ourselves. We need to be doing the things that open us up to God’s grace and
saving presence, such as making a commitment to weekly mass, daily prayer,
occasional spiritual reading, confession, and serving one another when these
opportunities arise in our lives. When we are open to God, he will find us. How
great would that be!
The proper response to
someone being brought back into the community is to be joyful and to rejoice
with each other, to be happy that one more is back in the fold. God has enough
love for everyone. His love cannot be depleted no matter how many people are
receiving it. The more the merrier!
This parable also tells us
that God will forgive us no matter what we do, and we shouldn’t be afraid to
come home. God knows we will sin since he made us to be imperfect. Never be
afraid to seek and accept God’s forgiveness.
It also tells us that
disciples should be people of joy, that feeling God’s forgiveness and grace in
our lives should make us happy. Does it? How many gloomy Christians are there
in the world? Are we any different from other people? If we are not joyful,
then something is wrong. If we are not rejoicing, we need to look and see what
we have to change in our lives.
The second parable is
fascinating because the analogy to God seeking us is a woman seeking a coin!
So, God is being compared to a woman. No wonder Luke’s gospel can be referred
to as the gospel for women. This is really universalism when we can make this
analogy. All really are welcome and equal when we can say and believe this
analogy.
This parable has the same
message as the first, so I would like to skip to the third parable, one of my
favorites, called the Prodigal Son.
The word ‘prodigal’ means
recklessly extravagant. Recklessly means doing something without thinking.
Extravagant means someone who is very generous. So prodigal is someone who is
generous without thinking about what it costs. It is like referring to someone
as generous to a fault, or like someone who would give you the shirt off his
back.
The younger son goes to
his father and asks for his inheritance. Sure, this happens everyday. What
would you think would happen if someone did this? Do you think the father would
do it? Surprisingly, the father agrees to do it! This is our first instance of
being prodigal.
What is the son saying to
his father? Since one receives an inheritance when someone else dies, he is
saying either “I wish you were dead” or “I can’t wait until you are dead to
receive my inheritance”. Nice kid, huh?
Then he goes off to a
foreign land and spends it all in riotous and sinful living. I suppose this is
where the title of “Prodigal Son” comes in. The gospel says that there was a
famine and he was starving to death, so he hires himself out to a farmer to
take care of the pigs. He doesn’t even eat as well as the pigs, and he is dying
of hunger. For a young Jewish boy to be tending swine is a way of saying he has
hit bottom, life could not be worse than this.
Since he doesn’t seem to
have any alternative, he decides he needs to go back to his father. He doesn’t
believe his father would take him back, so he plans to beg his father to let
him be a servant; that way, he will have a place to stay and food to eat. I can
see him in my minds eye practicing his speech as he makes the long and
embarrassing trek home.
I can see the father in my
mind’s eye going to the edge of his property everyday looking for his son. I
see it as starting out hopeful – maybe this will be the day I see him, and it
always ends up sadly, with the boy nowhere in sight. Until one day when he can
hardly believe his eyes. It’s his son! Coming home! The happiness of the father
must be akin to the happiness of parents when their son comes home from war
alive and physically unhurt. I remember seeing video of POW’s coming off an
airplane after being released from North Vietnam
I’d bet that the son
couldn’t believe his good fortune. He is trying to tell his father that he
doesn’t deserve to be called his son anymore, yet the father says “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.”
Notice what the father is
doing. He is getting a fine robe, sandals, and a ring for his son. The father
is helping his son is to take off the old self (of sin) and put on the new self
(of righteousness). His father is also preparing a banquet; this has an obvious
Eucharistic theme, as do all banquets. When we seek forgiveness of our sins, we
make ourselves eligible for the heavenly banquet.
Most importantly, I think,
the father takes back his son as a son, and not as a servant. He is restoring
his son completely, which means the son is eligible for half of what is left! Talk
about prodigal. The story should be called the Prodigal Father.
The father in this story
is God the Father, whose love and forgiveness are unlimited. We don’t have to
do anything to earn or merit the father’s love and forgiveness; it is there for
the asking. He never asks his son for an accounting of the money or how he
lived his life. He never asked him any reasons for his actions. When the son
came back, he was forgiven. The only unforgivable sin is the one not confessed.
The younger son represents
all of us. We sin, sometimes greatly, and we need to acknowledge our sins and
ask for forgiveness. Sometimes we think that our sins are so great that God
won’t forgive us. Every priest has had the occasion to hear a confession where
someone confesses a sin from decades ago, and this person admits that they have
confessed this sin several times. They have only committed it once, but have
confessed it several times. This is a case in which something seems to good to
be true, but it really is true. God will forgive anything, as long as we are
repentant and desire to change. We no longer have to hold onto the sin, but we
can let it go. Jesus paid the price for our sins
It also tells us that God
doesn’t expect us to be perfect, but to try. We will fail, miserably at times,
but we never give up hope. When we sin, we seek forgiveness, and try our best.
I think that all God can ask us to do is to make an honest attempt everyday to
be the best disciple we can, given our limitations and circumstances.
The older son is a real
piece of work. He has everything, but is angry when his brother comes home. He
reminds us of the side of ourselves that can be self-righteous, judgmental, and
superior to others. We are like that when we look down on anyone we deem not
fit to be a part of the kingdom.
We are all called to be
like the younger son who admits his sins, seeks forgiveness, and tries to turn
his life around. We are not called to be like the older son. His sins are
different than his brother, but no less serious. He is jealous of other
people’s good fortune. He is unforgiving and uncaring. He doesn’t see himself
as a sinner so he doesn’t see the need for forgiveness. How many people are
there like that? They look down on others as sinful, they nitpick others
actions, and fail to even think that they have any problems. Like the older
son, they have everything, but in the end they will end up with nothing. It is
really sad to see people like this. The kingdom is there for them, in their
grasp, but their smallness and pettiness will keep them out. It’s even hard to
talk to them about it because they won’t believe you and they will be offended,
wondering what gave you the right to say that to them. With some people, the
most you can do is to keep them in your prayers and hope that somehow God
touches their hearts.
As much as we are called
to be like the younger son, that is just the start. After we turn our lives
around, where do we go? We need to strive to be like the father. Forgiving,
loving, nonjudgmental, caring, compassionate, generous, understanding, he is
the epitome of a virtuous disciple. He has become what we all strive to be:
holy. He is virtuous not just for himself, but to share it with others. No
matter how his sons act, he treats them with love and respect. He forgives them
and wants to share everything he has with them.
From the September 2013 issue of Connections, a homily resource: “In our
"sophisticated" and complex lives, the idea that God loves us is
difficult to grasp. But the most important lesson Jesus taught, the
central theme of his Gospel, is that God loves us completely and
unconditionally. We are never beyond his reach; we are never lost to
him. Such a realization of the possibilities for such love in our lives
is grace. Sometimes we experience grace in the support and love of
generous family and friends - and sometimes we are the agents of such grace,
giving and doing whatever is necessary for the good of another, refusing to
give up our search to find the lost and bring back those from whom we have been
separated. Grace is the joy and fulfillment experienced by the
shepherd who finds the lost lamb, the woman who recovers the missing coin, and
the father who welcomes home his wayward son - and the realization of the love
that led us to be found.”
God is like that with us.
He loves us when we don’t deserve it, he forgives us when we ask, he
understands our needs, and gives us what we need to make it through this life
in his grace and peace, and to be around the eternal banquet table in the next
life. I pray that we all strive to be like the “Prodigal Father” and share
God’s love with those in our lives. May we be Christ for each other, and see
Christ in each other.
Fr. Phil
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