Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus the
reading and the liturgy of the day speaks of a compassionate and a merciful God
who is madly in love with his people.
Rom 14:7-12
Lk 15 1-10
Indeed
Ch 15 of Luke from where today’s gospel reading is chosen portrays God’s love
and mercy.
Don’t
the two parables- the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin sound quite
illogical, where a shepherd leaves 99 of his sheep in search of one lost sheep
or a woman makes the house upside down in search of a lost coin?
Reading
a little deeper into the parables, the parable of the lost sheep speaks of a relationship and the lost coin speaks
of something worth or precious.
Therefore the in depth message of todays gospel is about the unique, personal
and a precious relationship between God and us, between God and you and me. In
his sight all are precious.
In
the Jewish society there was a kind of stratification – Pharisees, Saducees,
Scribes then there were tax collectors and finally lepers. These were seen as
cursed people or the excluded either because of their sins or because of the
sins of their parents.
The gospel of the day has an echo that no one is
excluded from the love of God. You and I are precious in his sight.
Aren’t
there times when we look down upon others? Husband on their wife and wife on their
husband or children look down on their parents and parents on their children at
least at times or owners on their servants?
Could
it be because we think that the other person solely belongs to you? or because
we think that he/ she is our property?
Dear
friends, let us not forget that beyond marital or blood relationship, there is
a greater relationship, that is between
God and us, between God and every human person. Therefore the other is never a
commodity or an object to be used rather a
precious child of God.
In
Ex 19, 4-6, we hear , “ If you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession- a holy
nation and a priestly kingdom.” The covenant that is spoken about, invites us
to love God by loving our neighbor and this is the undertone of the first
reading.
Finally
as we are speaking about the lost coin and the lost sheep, do you ever have an
experience of being lost? Of having lost someone who is very intimate to you?
I
do have an experience. At the age of 8 along with my parents and siblings had
gone for a nearby village for a musical night. As all returned separately, they
did notice that I wasn’t with them. And then I remember my mother came running with tears flowing in her eyes.
Years
later when I look back the incident, and think if I was lost that day forever,
where and how I would have been today?
As
then my mother came running for me so is our God, who loves and cares each one
of us. No one is excluded from his love and care. Let us respond to the love of
this merciful God. by
loving and respecting our fellow brothers and sisters and strengthen
our relationship with God who resides in
the sanctuary of our hearts. Amen.
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