24th Sunday in Ordinary Time ( C-cycle )
September 16, 2007

I very seldom listen to the news these days.  And on the occasions when I have had to it seems to me that all I hear is so much that is negative and depressing.  I am sure that I am not alone in feeling this way.  When you add to this the personal troubles that are part of each of our lives, our world can begin to seem such a dark and foreboding place to live in.  In fact, recently, I have had more than one teenager tell me that they think that something is wrong with our world.  Some have even gone as far as to state that they think that it might be ending.  The situation is not that much better with the state of our church; - Of late, there seems to be a constant stream of bad news regarding her.  And when you add the aging and the increasing number of deaths among her clergy, there is fear among many of her members about the direction that she might be headed and some have even resolved to take pre-emptive action or is it to impose an agenda?  Today however we can take heart: - For in the scripture readings, we can find a balm to soothe our anxiety and an answer to our troubles.  For the readings today point us to a fundamental truth, that God, our God is a God of beginnings and not a God of endings.

 

In the first reading, we are shown how Moses and even God had every reason to give up on the Israelites. At God’s command, Moses had worked many miracles among them and led them out of Egypt through the Red sea.  But they quickly forgot God’s mercy and began worshiping false gods. Their behavior might have brought a merited destruction upon them.  But Moses intercedes for them and God abandoned his impending punishment and instead gives them a chance at a new beginning.

 

In the second reading, we hear about St. Paul – one of the church’s most famous convert.  Before his conversion, Paul had engaged in some miserable acts; - including acts of arrogance, bullying and blasphemy.  The more troubling thing he did was for me, his encouragement of a mob to murder an innocent man.  That man was St. Stephen, the first martyr, who was a member of the early church and a fellow deacon.  But in spite of that crime, God did not give up on Paul; - but rather gave him the chance at a new beginning.

 

In the gospel reading, we find three parables; - The twin parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin, and the parable of the prodigal son of which much has been said and written about over the years.  The twin parables emphasize the preventive action of God in seeking and saving the lost, an act that is then carried over, into understanding the action of the father in the third parable.  Who ran and welcomed his son while he was still at a distance, bringing home and giving him a chance at a new beginning.  As we can see, there is one common thread running through the three readings today; - and that is one of atonement.  And the atonement as seen here is NOT the human act of children appeasing an angry Father, but rather that of a Father’s gift to his people, in which He undertakes to do for them what they could not do for themselves.

 

God has always acted this way with us. Starting from the first human fall in the Garden of Eden, what was His first act?  Didn’t He like any disappointed loving father set about making clothing for our first parents to protect them from their nakedness, and thus to enable them have a fighting chance at the new, though more difficult beginning they had chosen.  And in the fullness of time, didn’t He send his only begotten son into the world to bring to completion His movement to humanity, thereby saving the world and giving it a chance at a new beginning?  And as an instrument of continuing the process of saving the world, didn’t Christ then set up His church?  Which is still with us today?

 

As God has shown through human history, He never gives up, He never abandon’s that which He begins, and He is not about to do so now.  Not with the world and most certainly, not with the church.  For as Christ himself has said in this regard, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”.

 

This is what we must always keep in mind as we grabble with the troubling circumstances of our day.  God’s ways may seem strange even foolish sometimes, but they are always effective and ultimately, always to our good.  History has shown this to be the case and Jesus in today’s gospel reading reminds us of this basic truth.  Perhaps it maybe that our church and our world needs to be prodigal again.  And quite frankly, if we can see and predict clearly the outcome of events, they are not likely to be the work of God.  For this our loving God is also a God of surprises.  When we think that all is lost, that the situation is hopeless, He springs a surprising outcome on us.  All He needs to unleash his love is a little bit of cooperation from us.

 

And just as Moses cooperated with God by his willingness to mediate for his people, and Saul cooperated by being open to his call, and the prodigal son did the same by coming to his senses and returning home, we too must resolve to be open to the actions of the Holy Spirit in or lives, in our church and indeed in our world even if the demand on us may seem difficult and unpalatable.  So, let us not give up on ourselves. Let us always remember that God loves us and is always ready to give us a new beginning.

 

All He needs are a few victim souls. Souls willing to cooperate with Him by remaining strong and courageous witnesses of faith for Jesus and His church, especially in the face of the many serious challenges of our time.  And so today I ask you, would you consider being a victim soul for Jesus?

 

God Bless you.