24th SundayC

24^th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

Readings: Exodus 32:7‑11,13‑14  1 Timothy 1:12‑17  Luke 15:1‑32

     In the trial scene of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice Portia describes mercy in the following way:

The quality of mercy is not strained.

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

Upon the place beneath.  It is twice blest:

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. . . .

It is an attribute of God himself;

And earthly power doth then show likest God's

When mercy seasons justice. . . .

Today's readings proclaim the rich blessings and the joyful demands of God's abundant mercy.  Let us avail ourselves of this most God‑like gift as we sing the refrain for this Sunday's responsorial psalm (Ps 51): "I will rise and go to my Father."    

In the Exodus reading the Israelites have provoked the Lord's wrath by making the golden calf, and so he angrily announces to Moses that he will destroy this “depraved” and “stiff‑necked” people and then make of Moses himself “a great  nation.”  In his threat the Lord refers to Israel as “your (Moses') people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt.”  But Moses dares to remind the Lord that Israel is his “own people.” "Why, O Lord, should your wrath blaze up against your own people, whom you brought out of the land

of Egypt with such great power and with so strong a hand?"    Moses then recalls the Lord's solemn covenant promises made to the patriarchs. “Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, and how you swore to them by your own self, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky; and all this land that I promised, I will give your descendants as their perpetual heritage.'"

When confronted with his own saving actions and promises, the Lord's fidelity and mercy triumph over his wrath.  We are told:  "So the Lord relented in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people."

For the next seven weeks, the second reading will be from the Pastoral Epistles, I and II Timothy.  Most scholars agree  that they are written in Paul's name in an attempt to maintain  correct doctrine against threats from false teachers who "concern themselves with myths and endless genealogies, which promote  speculations rather than the plan of God that is to be received  by faith" (1 Tim 1:4).  In contrast to this "gnostic" emphasis on speculation, 1Timothy insists that Christianity involves an ethical life of practical love and service.  The foremost example of Christian service should be the minister of the gospel.

In today's reading the author uses Paul's own experience of God's mercy as an example "to those who would later have faith in (God)."  The opening thanksgiving humbly acknowledges Paul’s past failings as "a blasphemer, a persecutor, a man filled with arrogance."  If God through Christ Jesus could treat Paul, "the worst" of sinners, with mercy, then, the author reasons, "You can depend on this as worthy of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."   The reading ends with a praise of God for his mercy. 

Luke's three parables‑‑ the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Prodigal Son‑‑ celebrate the twin blessings of God's mercy.   Those who are lost‑‑ like the stray sheep, the misplaced coin, or the prodigal son‑‑ are assured of God's forgiving mercy.  Those who have dutifully served God, like the elder son, are invited to share in God's nature by showing mercy.  Jesus uses these parables both to defend his joyful table fellowship with "tax collectors and sinners" and also to challenge the self-righteous Pharisees and scribes, who are murmuring, “this man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

The conclusion of each parable is an invitation to joyfully celebrate finding that which was lost, that is, the return of repentant sinners.  When the shepherd arrives home, "he invites friends and neighbors in and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.'"  When the woman finds her lost coin, "she calls in her friends and neighbors to say, ‘Rejoice with me!  I have found the silver piece I lost.'"   When the father comes out to his jealous elder son, he insists, "we had to celebrate and rejoice!  This brother of yours was dead, and has come back to life.  He was lost, and is found."

Jesus leaves these parables open ended.  We are not told if the elder son chose to join the festivities.  We have to hear the parable's call and complete it for ourselves.  Perhaps the greatest challenge Jesus offers us is the invitation to rejoice in God's forgiving love for others.