Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, C September 15, 2019
Fr. Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette
Well, wasn’t that a long Gospel? And why so long… why three parables instead of one? Wasn’t the one about the sheep enough? We sin, God comes to get us, and everything is great after. Did we really need to stand so long to listen to the rest? Yes, we did. Not every sinner is the same. Not every path to repentance is the same so we need to hear more than one way for the Mercy of God to reach lost souls.
This first one with the sheep is straightforward. Sheep are fairly dumb animals. It’s easy for them to carelessly wander off and get lost. In the same way, we human beings can be careless with our souls. It’s not that we are maliciously running away from God, but we wander after this or that sin and before we realize it, we’re alone and aren’t sure how to come back. The shepherd comes to find us and we are glad to be found; sinners who don’t hate God, but just need someone to bring us back. It’s our own fault we’re lost, but we’re happy to be challenged and brought back. As the work of the priest, it is a task for which I often feel inadequate myself. Pray for me and all priests to imitate Christ in seeking out the lost sheep to carry them home. But don’t forget that you too can offer a warm invitation or a kind challenge to bring back the lost.
This parable of the lost coin, however, is something else. The coin didn’t lose itself, the woman lost it. Apparently, it’s partly because the house was dirty and dark. This house represents the Church; Those in the Church often leave it dark and dirty with their sins, corruption, and negligence, which causes souls in it to become lost. How many souls have we lost to the abuse scandal, to financial corruption, to hypocritical and downright wicked priests and bishops! Saving them is not the same as saving the sheep. Before they can come back, the house – the Church – needs to be well-lit and cleaned out. This cleaning requires the work of priests and bishops, but also all Catholics. Every Catholic who sins darkens and dirties the house of the Church so every Catholic must do their part to bring light and spiritual cleanliness to the Church by their own repentance. Do you want to save souls? Start with your own repentance and pray for us who lead to clean up our mess.
Finally, there is this most famous parable: the prodigal son. Unlike the previous two, the sinner in this parable flatly rejects God the Father to go out on his own. It’s not ignorance or negligence, but selfishness at work. Unlike the previous two, this sinner is not found by someone else but must return himself. There are some sinners we cannot bring back. The Father runs to the son once he sees him, but never once does he go to the city to search for him. Those who are dead set on a life of sin cannot be saved by us following them into their sin. We can forgive them, but we cannot pretend they are home with us until they are willing to repent. That is why some cannot receive communion, why we can’t go to gay weddings or support abortion clinics even if we love the people involved in them. Loving a person and supporting their sin are two different things even if they can’t see the difference. But, supporting a sin will not help the person.
Of course, at the first sign of repentance, the Father ran to close the distance, to complete his repentance that much faster. And when the son did not believe he could be restored to his place as son, the Father immersed him in love without even acknowledging the possibility of his son being a servant. So we as a Church must be towards every sinner who begins to return, every sinner who wants to repent but doubts the mercy of God. Do not be like the elder brother who resents the mercy, but like the father eager to bestow it.
And yet, there is something we can do even before all that. We must always pray for sinners as the father surely prayed. The father also saw him from a distance which means he was constantly looking to the horizon, seeking any sign of his son’s willingness to return. We must do the same. Above all, notice what the prodigal son says to himself before he returns: “How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food to eat?” The point is not literal food – though feeding the poor does help – but that they are given the true food of God. Yes, this can be applied to the Eucharist, but more generally it is the food of Love that every human being craves and needs.
The son is moved to repentance not by a shepherd who finds him or by a housekeeper who cleans, but by remembering the love and generosity in his Father’s house. Yes, the way priests and bishops treat their people is important. But don’t forget that every Catholic shares in Christ’s mission through their Baptism and Confirmation. To those in the world, you represent the Church, you represent God. So, the way Catholics treat each other plays a huge role in drawing souls to repentance – souls that we can’t simply find and bring back, but who have to come of their own accord. The world should look at the “Father’s house” of the Church as say “see how they love one another!”
Are we as a Church a place known for feeding our own, even the least significant among us? Are we as St. John the Evangelist parish known as a community of love… a place where those who are starving in a life a sin can look and recognize a place of hope and abundance? Or are we just a random collection of individuals doing the minimum to say we’re Catholic? I say we can be that community. I say this parish has the potential to draw many souls back from a life of sin, but we’ve got a lot of work to do. We must seek out those lost in their weakness. We must clean up our mess. And we must strengthen our bonds as a spiritual home, a real community where we are known and loved. Start today. After Mass, say hello to a parishioner you don’t already know. Come to a bible study, a check out the Knights of Columbus or Catholic Daughters. Or talk to me about the kind of community event or social opportunity you’d like to see in the parish. Let’s make it happen. Let’s make sinners jealous of our food and then when they come looking to get a taste, let’s welcome them back and throw them a party.