From the Sunday Note, with additional thoughts–
Sunday’s Gospel is the entire 15th chapter of Luke (verses 1-32, the parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin, plus the extended parable of the Prodigal Son). And that Gospel has an interesting relationship with the 2nd Reading from Paul’s First Letter to Timothy (1Tim. 1:12-17). Altogether too much to copy and print out here. Instead, I’ll pick and choose key bits that provoke meditative thoughts, and then give verse references for the quoted or near-quoted lines.
Let’s begin with our Gospel.
The priority given repentant sinners: Are you a lost sheep? If so, the Shepherd has immediately set out to find you. When he finds you, he will lift you onto his shoulders, carry you back to the flock and rejoice with everyone at your return. That’s the way Jesus’ Father works with repentant sinners. (Vv. 4-7) Are you a lost coin, perhaps small but valuable? The woman responsible for what’s valuable will immediately go in search of you. When she finds you, she will reunite you with the other valuables and gather her friends to rejoice at your return. This is another example of how Jesus’ Father works with repentant sinners. It is a model for us, too. (Vv. 8-10)
Israel and other nations: There is but one Father of all humankind. Most of humankind wandered away from the Father. The Jews are represented as the son who remained at home with Him. They have ongoing teaching from God and lived history with God that began before the rest of us ever heard of Abraham and Moses. Non-Jews are the younger son who wandered off on their own. But life away from humankind’s original home becomes a desperate situation for every wanderer. The father longs for every wanderer’s return. He wants every lost sheep, every valuable coin back where it belongs. And when anyone of them returns, the Father is eager to rejoice. (Vv.11-24)
Israel’s reaction: The older brother, however, is not ready to rejoice. He would prefer a feast only for himself and his friends who have obeyed all the father’s orders. Notice he does not mention inviting the father to the feast! He can, just, bring himself to acknowledge that the younger man is the father’s son—but not to acknowledge the younger man is his “brother”!
Paul: But there is another possibility. What if the elder brother realizes that he is lost, too? In our 2nd Reading Paul admits he was the ‘elder brother’ in action. “I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man, …foremost of sinners…” (1 Timothy 1:12-15) Paul initially rejects the Good Shepherd, becomes an accessory to the murder of Stephen, arrests and chains Jews who follow Jesus and turns them over to authorities for drastic punishments. He even votes in favor of their deaths. (See Acts 22:4, 26:10). Such an elder brother!
The Father: Only the Father in Christ with the Holy Spirit can pull off the kind of shepherding needed, for it is not just one of us out of a hundred sheep who wanders off into the wilderness, but the whole hundred. Not just one coin that goes missing but entire piggy banks full. Not just the younger son, but the elder son, too, who though with the Father in body is far from him in spirit. Yet with the Father it is not a zero-sum game for anyone. The Father reminds the elder brother that, even yet, “My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours.” (15:31) In the end, He will have but one flock, one family.
For further reflection:
A key sign of Christian maturity is coming to recognize just how prone we are to wandering off and getting lost. On any given day with any given concern. So stop, check with the Lord–“am I with you Lord, or am I trying to drag You along with me?”