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Gospel Reflection 20070916

Jesus seemed to get along best with those whom polite, officially O.K. society regarded as scum and outcasts.
God loves everyone—equally. God respects the dignity and worth of each person. Christians are called to channel and extend that love and respect to all people, "regardless of race, color, creed or national origin," or sexual orientation too.

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The Prodigal Son - A parable of challenge and judgment to anyone who lacks mercy
September 16, 2007
Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time


Gospel
Lk 15:1-32

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.’”


After going through the story of the Prodigal Son, a Sunday school teacher asked the kids, “At the end of the story who is it that ended up in the worst situation?” One of the kids shot up her hands and answered, “The fatted cow.” The animal-loving child was certainly correct, but the answer the teacher probably expected was “The elder son.”
There are three main characters in the Parable of the Prodigal Son: the father, the younger son, and the elder son. The younger son is a volatile, impatient, easily bored, ready-to-try-everything teenager. He collects his inheritance, goes abroad to see the world, and squanders his birthright in loose living. He represents every sinner. In sin we squander our human and divine birthright and in the end we are no better than in the beginning. Sin promises us a life of happiness, satisfaction and excitement but in the end all we get out of it is misery, wretchedness, dissatisfaction, depression, and a loss of the sense of personal dignity that belongs to us as God’s children. The good news is that no matter how deeply the sinner sinks into sin, there is always a still, silent inner voice within us inviting us to come back to our Father’s house where true freedom and satisfaction is to be found.
Then there is the father who is so loving that he lets his rascally son have whatever he wanted. In fact we can say he even spoils the boy. We have this image of God as a very stern, demanding father who is always ready to whip us into line. This is very far from the image of God we have in this parable. Here God is presented as a tender loving father who is easy on his children, and who is always ready to forgive, no matter what. If this is how God relates to us, then we can see that God possesses the tender-loving quality of mother as well as the tough-loving quality of father.
And finally there is the elder son who is introduced towards the end of the story. If you want to describe the elder son by one word you would call him a gentleman. He is a man of honor, solid, hard-working, consistent, disciplined, and sober — a perfect gentleman. In the elder son we see the virtues, as well as the vices, of middle class morality. What are the vices of middle class morality? Arrogance, better-than-thou attitude, intolerance toward those who do not meet up to our standards, insensitivity and a spirit of unforgiveness. The elder son exhibits these vices in the way he refuses to welcome his lost and found brother, his father’s explanation and invitation notwithstanding. He must have his pound of flesh. For him it is a matter of justice, but for God that is nothing but self-centeredness and unwillingness to forgive.
The first son syndrome is very much alive among us. Do you remember the execution on February 3, 1998 of Karla Faye Tucker? Karla was, to all appearances, a repentant murderer. At the moment of her execution there were two groups of people outside the Texas state prison in Huntsville: a group protesting her execution, who were there praying for her, and a group demanding her execution, who were there cheering and jeering as she was hanged. The praying group was calling for love and mercy and the cheering group was calling for justice. The parable of the Prodigal Son reminds us today that for God love and compassion takes precedence over blind justice.
We often confuse Puritanism for Christianity. To be puritanical is to be scrupulously demanding in religious conduct and morals. For such a person the number one virtue is discipline. To be a Christian, on the other hand, is to profess and live according to the example and teaching of Christ. Here the primary virtue is love and compassion. As Christians we believe in a God of love and compassion. Jesus was a man of love of compassion both in his teachings and in his dealings with others. The challenge for us Christians today is to be people of love and compassion, to be like the prodigal father in the parable and not like the uncompromising elder son in a world full of prodigal sons and daughters.


Suppose for a minute, that you have just died and gone to heaven. That possibility sounds great, after all our lives are supposed to be lived in such manner that we do get there. That is what our faith tells us. Yes, heaven and eternal reward with God is our reward for living faithfully. And we think we did live that way most of the time. But, much to your surprise, your dismay, the first people you run into are Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin. How did they get here you wonder even aloud! How could God do this to men who lived so faithlessly? How could God make them equal to me? Surely they could not have repented. Really, how would you feel if they made it to heaven along with you?
And, they may have made it, for we do not know what sort of repentance, what prodigal return on each of their parts might have happened in their dying moments. Would you want to be in heaven with them? Isn't that possibility presented in today's scriptures? But, but... we might object to God, only to finally have to realize that God is so good and so loving and so forgiving that this is possible.
If we look at the Gospel parable we find the story of a son who basically says you are dead, Father, so give me my share of the inheritance. Yes, to demand ones share while ones father was still alive was tantamount to saying that to me you are dead. It says, God may have left you alive, father, but I want you out of the way. I want to do my own thing with everything that is mine.
Only when he finds himself lower than a pig does the son awaken and realize a need to come and ask forgiveness. Something in his very gut says I am wrong. I need forgiveness. I need to know I am loved, even if my status with my father cannot be regained.
So, he comes home, his father loves him into new life.
And along comes his older brother. This brother is proud that he has never strayed like his younger brother. He has never tried to act like his father did not matter. He sees himself as having never sinned like his brother has. Yet, he seems to have followed the rules and to have done all of the necessary actions, but without loving the one for whom he is doing them. He cannot see that he was loved all along. And he cannot let himself love someone who has sinned in a manner different from his own way of sinning… In fact the faithful brother cannot see that following the rules without a sense of living lovingly is a sin.
The Gospel explains in simple middle eastern terms just how much God desires to save all, how God truly finds that no one is expendable, not one lost sheep, not one lost part of a married woman's identity, not the son who wandered off to the wilderness to find his way, not the son who lost his way at in the wilderness of his own bitterness while being loved at home. And yet, we find Jesus having to explain to the Pharisees exactly the fact that it is those who have sinned, that God comes to save. We find Jesus having to explain that all have sinned and all are to be saved.
The story of the brothers and the loving nature of God should hit close to home for every one of us. We are likely both brothers at different times. There are times when we walk away from the Father, walk away from life in Jesus, going our own way. Some wander from family or the Church for a long time before finding they are missing being loved. There are times when we live the rules of family or of Church without a sense of life in them, perhaps even to the point of being scrupulous. We sometimes do it with a great sense of pride.
Which way is worse? The elder brother's way seems to say I love God I love the Church because I do everything right. The younger brother says I don't need God or family, but after a while of wandering he comes to recognize that he has left love behind and needs it badly.
As long as either can be prodigal, either can meet that shameless ever giving father who comes running to meet us and welcome us home, showering us with love. The example of the father is there for us to grow into as the way we treat one another.
We should all pray for the grace to love the other even if he or she sins differently from me; and the grace to know enough to come running to the forgiving God who welcomes us in either case.






Have you ever been in a group listening to a joke being told? You know: at work, with your family, here at Church? And, when the person gives the punch line, everyone laughs or grins; but you didn't get it. You smile awkwardly as you try to figure out why everyone is laughing out loud. Somewhere/somehow you didn't grasp some detail that was central to the twist that made the story funny. You quickly go over it again and again in your mind to try to see what little thing you must have missed.

It's almost like an ice cream company years ago whose slogan was "it's the subtle little difference that makes all the difference." They claimed that there was some secret in their ice cream formula that, no matter how apparently similar it was to other ice creams, there was the slightest difference that made ALL the difference in the flavor of their ice cream.

And, that is precisely what Jesus' parables are. They are about details and they are intended to inspire an 'aha' in a hearer. Each has a punch line, a very subtle twist, which requires attention to details or you won't 'get' Jesus' teaching or challenge.

So it is today. We have heard these parables of forgiveness so many times that we may have missed Jesus' real point. In fact, is it even proper to call them parables of 'forgiveness'? Let's read the opening verses again: "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."

The "them" to whom Jesus addresses the parables are the complainers, the leaders and people who don't want sinners to have a place in Jesus' life and ministry. The parable is NOT a word to sinners about God's mercy; it is a parable of challenge and judgment to anyone who lacks mercy. The images of a shepherd seeking his one lost sheep, the woman searching for her one lost coin, the father welcoming back the promiscuous son are all meant to challenge these religious leaders out of their righteousness, their unwillingness to accept a God whose mercy and hospitality extends to all peoples in all times.

From the earliest experience of Israel in the desert in our first reading, through the amazing mercy that Paul acknowledges in the second reading, God has always been first and foremost a God of mercy, a God of patience, a God who seeks out the lost. How then, Jesus demands of the leaders of his time, do you dare to create a God of your rules, your narrowness, your elitism, and ignore the true God of all Jewish and Christian history?

For us, then, today becomes a Sunday of self-reflection. If you or I have been or am now in sin, God's mercy is seeking me, searching for my deepest soul, with a love that is wild beyond imagining, ready to receive and welcome no less than Jesus welcomed sinners in his time. If, however, you or I are leading lights of the Church, the examination must be about our hospitality or lack thereof to those 'outside' our system. No matter how wise and true and accurate our teaching, our moral laws, our Church norms, we must be people of mercy and welcome as we offer them.



FOCUS STATEMENT When we fail as disciples, we need to remember God’s love is complete, unconditional, and beyond our comprehension. God’s forgiveness is always available.
For the past three months the Gospel readings have directed our focus on how the “good disciple” of Jesus Christ lives out their lives.
· We have heard that the good disciple like Christ needs to set their eyes on their journey, to their Jerusalem, and stay focused on their true mission in life.
· We have heard that God calls the good disciple to love him totally, with all their heart, all their being, with all their strength.
· We have heard that the good disciple should treat everyone as their neighbor, with love, care, and compassion.
· We have heard that the good disciple is not afraid any longer, for the Father is pleased to give them the kingdom and so they should store up their treasure in heaven and not be concerned with treasure here on earth.
· We have heard about Mary, the prime example of the good disciple, who was rewarded with being assumed into heaven for her total life of committed devotion to God’s will.
· We have heard that Jesus expects the world to be set on fire, and the good disciple in following him will experience being divided from those who are not as committed to him.
· We have heard that we cannot be his disciple if we are not willing to forsake our families, our own life, or not carry our cross for his sake.
We have been led through the scriptures and encouraged to due the right thing and receive God’s blessings for being the “good disciple”.
And so my question to you today is, how have you done these past three months?
· Has anybody here stayed totally focused on God and their call to follow Jesus?
· Has anybody here lived their life in total love of God, with all their heart, all their being, with all their strength?
· Has anybody here treated everybody you’ve met with love, care, and compassion?
· Has anybody here been afraid of God, or doubted a little, or been working harder to store up treasure in their 401K than storing up treasure in heaven?
· Has anybody here backed off a little in following Jesus because they didn’t want to cause division or strife in a relationship?
· Has anybody here put themselves, or anything or anybody else ahead of following Jesus in their lives?

I don’t think we have to search to hard or look too long to recognize that each of us has failed in some way in being the “good disciple”.
We can be tempted to be depressed, despondent, or give up trying to be the “good disciple” Jesus calls each of us to be. In today’s Gospel we are given insight into the divine logic of forgiveness. Only a foolish shepherd would leave 99 good sheep to find one lost sheep. Only a foolish person would spend hours and needed energy to find a small coin of little worth. And only a foolish parent would welcome back a child who rejected them and their heritage, wasted the parents fortune, and came back only because they were hungry and had no more money to continue living a dissolute life.

But that is what God does for us. That is how God treats us. That is what makes us full of hope. That is what we need to remember. Let us realize like the prodigal son, when we have messed up badly, we only need to return to God’s house, our home, to receive the full and unconditional love and forgiveness of our Father in heaven.

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St. John Chrysostom

(d. 407)


The ambiguity and intrigue surrounding John, the great preacher (his name means "golden-mouthed") from Antioch, are characteristic of the life of any great man in a capital city. Brought to Constantinople after a dozen years of priestly service in Syria, John found himself the reluctant victim of an imperial ruse to make him bishop in the greatest city of the empire. Ascetic, unimposing but dignified, and troubled by stomach ailments from his desert days as a monk, John began his episcopate under the cloud of imperial politics.
If his body was weak, his tongue was powerful. The content of his sermons, his exegesis of Scripture, were never without a point. Sometimes the point stung the high and mighty. Some sermons lasted up to two hours.

His life-style at the imperial court was not appreciated by some courtiers. He offered a modest table to episcopal sycophants hanging around for imperial and ecclesiastical favors. John deplored the court protocol that accorded him precedence before the highest state officials. He would not be a kept man.

His zeal led him to decisive action. Bishops who bribed their way into their office were deposed. Many of his sermons called for concrete steps to share wealth with the poor. The rich did not appreciate hearing from John that private property existed because of Adam's fall from grace any more than married men liked to hear that they were bound to marital fidelity just as much as their wives. When it came to justice and charity, John acknowledged no double standards.

Aloof, energetic, outspoken, especially when he became excited in the pulpit, John was a sure target for criticism and personal trouble. He was accused of gorging himself secretly on rich wines and fine foods. His faithfulness as spiritual director to the rich widow, Olympia, provoked much gossip attempting to prove him a hypocrite where wealth and chastity were concerned. His action taken against unworthy bishops in Asia Minor was viewed by other ecclesiastics as a greedy, uncanonical extension of his authority.

Two prominent personages who personally undertook to discredit John were Theophilus, Archbishop of Alexandria, and Empress Eudoxia. Theophilus feared the growth in importance of the Bishop of Constantinople and took occasion to charge John with fostering heresy. Theophilus and other angered bishops were supported by Eudoxia. The empress resented his sermons contrasting gospel values with the excesses of imperial court life. Whether intended or not, sermons mentioning the lurid Jezebel and impious Herodias were associated with the empress, who finally did manage to have John exiled. He died in exile in 407.

Comment:

John Chrysostom's preaching, by word and example, exemplifies the role of the prophet to comfort the disturbed and to disturb the comfortable. For his honesty and courage he paid the price of a turbulent ministry as bishop, personal vilification and exile.

Quote:
Bishops "should set forth the ways by which are to be solved very grave questions concerning the ownership, increase and just distribution of material goods, peace and war, and brotherly relations among all people" (Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops, 12).

posted by Mike Young @ 6:20 AM