(Reflection for 24th
Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C Ez 32:7-11, 13-14; 1Tim 1:12-17; Lk 15:1-32)
In
line with this year of Mercy, the readings of today reveal the surpassing
greatness and the foundational nature of God’s mercy. Ironically, this great
mercy is revealed to us through man’s great recklessness in sin. The newly
delivered people of Israel quickly turned to idols, and God’s anger was roused.
Sin operates with a certain “quick appeal” and an underlying sense of
impatience. But Moses came to their rescue. He mediated and God’s mercy became
the final word. The mercy of God awaits us.
Jesus,
the new Moses, reveals to us the depth of God’s mercy. With the parable of the
lost coin, the lost sheep and the prodigal Son, Jesus shows how the mercy of
God triumphs over sin, and turns it’s sadness into rejoicing. The prodigal son
falls in line because he was equally lost but found. The task of recovering
that which was lost is the “work of salvation.” What is lost by sin can only be
recovered through the work of salvation, which Jesus achieved on the Cross.
That was why the saints described sin as a crucifying
of Jesus.
Seated
with the Tax Collectors and sinners, Jesus becomes a concrete manifestation of
that mercy of God which shines out through human weakness and fallings. This
dialogical representation is elongated in the sacrament of Reconciliation,
where God’s mercy is available and readily accessible. The joy of the woman who
found her coin, the joy of the shepherd who found his sheep, and the joy of the
father who got his son back, together with the joy of the Angels over a sinner
who repents, are shared and communicated to the penitent who receives the
Sacrament of Confession. Oh! What a tremendous reality of God’s mercy we have!
In other
words, sin sucks this joy away. An unhappy man may readily blame others for his
mood. But beyond what can be seen or said, may be a lurking sin hiding at a
corner of his heart. Such was the mood of the prodigal son. After travelling
far and wide, and trying all sorts of “enjoyment”, he came back to his senses;
he entered into the depth of the silence of his heart. And he quickly
discovered that it was neither his father nor his elder brother that caused his
sad situation. However, searching through his conscience was not enough. Man cannot
save himself. A drowning man cannot put his hand on his head and rescue
himself. He must get help outside of himself. The young man tried to rescue
himself by reaching out to his fellow man for salvation, “But no one gave him
anything” (Lk 15:16).
Then
he realized his father was a merciful and generous man: “How many of my father’s
hired servants have bread enough and to spare” (Lk 15:17). He decided to reach
out to his father’s mercy: “I will arise and go to my father and I will say to
him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer
worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants” (LK 15:18-19).
This appeal for mercy represents the diagraphical structure of sin: vertical
and horizontal; against God and man. This is equally the sign of the Cross, on
which sin is crushed and mercy revealed!
The mercy
of the father was foundational; It prepared a home for him. In other words, we
can say that the return of the prodigal son evolved from the mercy of the father,
which inspired it and awaited him. His journey back home began at that moment
he realized there was room for him in his father’s heart. Love is the tree, mercy the fruit!
Upon
his arrival, we are scandalized at
the surpassing mercy of the father. The joy of the father subsumed the
wretchedness of his young man. The disappointing story of the prodigal son
disappears into the joyful story of a merciful father, who won his son back. We
see beside the man his repented son receiving the unmerited embrace and kiss,
wearing the unmerited best robe, ring, shoes. Above all, we see him devouring
the meat of the fatted calf he never worked for. His hunger is quenched; his sadness
has turned into joy. But it is an unmerited joy. He makes merry because his father is happy. He
has no joy of his own. He tried to create his own initially but lost it all. Now,
his only happiness is the one he shares from his father. The joy of the father
is poured out into the son.
The faithful
son, who was on the side of the father, should add to the joy shared by the
prodigal son. He should increase the reason
for the joy resounding in the family. So the elder son must not view his good
works in comparison with the sinful acts of the younger brother. This would
lead to anger and frustration. And, of course, it could bring about a sense of slavery,
where the free man thinks he is salving! He works from the side of his merciful
father...
Therefore,
St Paul enjoins us in the second reading to display God’s mercy given to us
through faith and love in Jesus Christ. We have become apostles of mercy as we
mark this Jubilee year of mercy. Our good works and perseverance in God must give an example,
and constitute reason for others to repent, embrace the Sacrament of Reconciliation and share in the joy of the Lord,
the joy of angels. The mercy of God awaits us!
Fr
Jude Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Our
Mother of Perpetual Help Shrine,
Enugu,
Nigeria.
September
11, 2016.
