Sunday 15th
September 2019. Read Exodus 32:7-14, Psalm 51, 1st Timothy 1:12-17 & Luke
15:1-32.
_“I will
arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against
heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as
one of thy hired servants.” *(Luke 15:18-19)*_
Last Sunday,
Jesus sternly charged us to avoid tribalism. Anyone who wants to be a follower
of Christ must be prepared to sacrifice everything; even his own life. Whatever
causes us to sin must be cut off from our lives lest we become like those who
started to build but could not complete it. Today, all our readings point to
the danger of living in sin, the suffering it brings to us and the desire of
God to win us back as his beloved sons and daughters whenever we go astray. Our
readings as always are loaded with so many lessons.
*One: Sin Brings
Suffering - We Cheat Ourselves when we Choose to Sin.*
Is there
any connection between sin and suffering? Can we relate our misfortunes in life
to the sins we commit? Sure! This is exactly one of the lessons of the parable
of the prodigal son. Before we proceed, we may ask: “What exactly is sin?” Our
Gospel passage today presents a more direct definition. To sin is to deliberately
decide to be lost, it is choosing to go astray, it is the decision to leave God’s
house to become gods unto ourselves (like the children of Israel did in today’s
first reading).
Sin is
always attractive because when tempted, satan makes us think that by giving us
rules God is keeping something precious away from us. Adam and Eve were
convinced they would be like God, the prodigal son was convinced he would have
a life of unlimited enjoyment and similarly when we are tempted, there seems to
be something to gain but as was the case with Adam and Eve, the prodigal son
soon realized there was much more enjoyment within the Father’s House than anywhere
else. As St. Paul would say, the only reward of sin is death. (Romans 6:23). Every
time we sin, we bring death, suffering and untold hardship unto ourselves.
Why does sin
bring us suffering? By choosing to sin, we deliberately and consciously reject
God thereby taking ourselves away from the ambiance of God’s protection. So long
as the prodigal son was away from the Father’s house, he could not escape from
the challenges brought by famine, unemployment, and hunger. Satan never tells
us the whole truth when we are tempted, he only shows us the sweet side. Again,
by rejecting God, sin attracts God’s wrath upon us as we saw in today’s first
reading. When Jesus was told about the tower of Siloam that fell and crushed
many to death, He said: “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Every
sin is suicide, hence the father while consoling the elder brother referred to
the prodigal son as once “dead” but as come back to life. Away from God’s presence,
sin kills us. Even though not all suffering in our lives is a result of our sins,
we must tell ourselves the truth that sin brings death, hardship, pain, and
sorrow.
*Two:
There is Joy both in Heaven and for the Sinner who Repents.*
The three
parables in our Gospel passage today were Jesus’ response to the murmurings of
the Pharisees and scribes who felt that Jesus was doing something wrong by
associating with those they considered as sinners. At the end of each of these
parables, Jesus said: “there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over the ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance… rejoice
with me for I have found the coin I had just lost… it is fitting to make merry
and be glad for this your brother was dead and is alive; he was lost and is
found.”
Nothing
brings God as much joy as our genuine and sincere repentance and this is why
God desires our repentance. Like the Shepherd who abandoned the ninety-nine in
search of the one lost, God in the person of Jesus Christ left everything to
save mankind and bring us salvation. Like the woman who called her friends and neighbours
to search for her lost coin, Jesus us to join in the search for lost souls. “Go
ye into the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15) Like
the Father who ran to embrace the prodigal son, God is the one who often makes
the first move of drawing us to repentance.
Dear friends,
just as our repentance brings joy to God, that joy spills back to us. This explains
why we feel light at heart and peaceful in mind whenever we genuinely repent. Don’t
postpone your repentance, tomorrow might too late.
*Three:
Repentance begins by Telling Ourselves the Truth.*
There is
no amount of preaching that can change a person if that person does not preach
to himself or herself. If I preach for the next five hours, it will be useless
if you do not sit yourself down and tell yourself some very hard truths. Jesus
tells us that when the prodigal son came to his senses, he realized that his troubles
in life were a result of his sins, he had to speak (preach) to himself: “I will
arise and go back to my father.” If he had not done this, he might have perished.
When last did you sit yourself down to preach to yourself? When last did you
point fingers at yourself? When last did you examine your conscience?
On a very
sad note, most of us are like the scribes and Pharisees; we are always pointing
fingers at others. We know what is wrong with everyone else while we think we are
such perfect creatures. Every day we rain insults and curses on our leaders forgetting
that we are incapable of meeting such expectations. It is funny how we crucify
others and ridicule them publicly for crimes which we do in secret. One of the
secrets of Paul’s success as a great missionary and evangelist was his ability
to thoroughly examine his own conscience and admit his faults. In today’s first
reading, St. Paul wrote: “I am the foremost of sinners but I received mercy, that
in me Jesus might display his perfect patience as an example to those who
believe.” (Cf. 1 Timothy 1:16-17).
As we
noted a few days ago: “When people tell you your mouth is smelly, you might
fight them for insulting you but the day you are able to actually perceive the
odour coming out of your own mouth, that is the very day you would rid yourself
of all such odours.” The key to true repentance is self-examination of
conscience. Have you tried looking inwards? Do it today.
*Four: Don’t
Fall into the Sin of the Elder Brother.*
Very
often, when we read the story of the prodigal son, we do not realize that in
this story, there are two prodigal sons. While the younger one walked away from
the father’s house after taking his share of the Father's property, the elder
one kept himself away from the father’s house out of annoyance and in protest
for his perceived “injustice” of the father. They are both prodigal in the sense
that just as the Father welcomed the younger one home, the Father went out of the
house to try to persuade the elder one back to re-enter the house.
The behaviour
of the elder brother is similar to our behaviour when we deliberately decide to
walk away from God or commit sin because we feel that God has not fair to us. There
are two things which can keep us away from God; prosperity (as was the case of
the younger one who felt he had no need of God anymore after taking his heart’s
desires) and suffering or lack (as was the case of the elder brother who wished
he could have just a kid goat to celebrate with his friends but did not get it).
Do you
feel like giving up on God? Do you wonder why life appears good for everyone
else while your case is different despite your dedication and commitment to
God? This is why earlier on, I noted that not all suffering is as a result of
our sins. The elder brother was such a righteous person but so long as he was
refusing to enter the house, his condition was doomed to be worse than what the
younger brother suffered. Think of the elder brother and meditate on the words
the father addressed to him: “You are always with me and all that is mine is
yours.” Yes, all these things you think God has denied you are actually yours.
Remain Faithful. Do not keep yourself away from heaven in the end.
*Five:
Pray, Pray, Pray for Sinners.*
Our final
lesson today comes from our first reading which concludes by saying: “And the Lord
repented of the evil (suffering) which he thought to do to his people.” One of
the spiritual works of mercy is praying for sinners. This is a very important virtue
we need to practice today. Moses as one man, stood before God on behalf of the
entire nation of Israel to plead for God’s mercy and he succeeded in changing
the mind of God towards the people. As one man, you too can pray for God’s
mercy over our entire nation where things have become so bad today.
For instance,
for those of us in the habit of calling out our leaders, let me ask: “When last
did you fast and pray just for three days, one week or even forty days just for
the intentions of our leaders?” It is not enough to point out evil in others, it
is not enough to gossip of the sins of others, it is not enough to lash out and
destroy the good names of others, as Christians, we must show love by praying
for sinners.
Let us
pray: Lord Jesus, when I examine my heart, it dawns on me that I am worse than those
I am trying to correct, I realize I have attracted a lot of sorrow and pain to
myself due to my bad choices, work in me the miracle of sincere repentance that
I may never return to what I am about to vomit now. Amen.
*Happy
Sunday. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless
you. (24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C. Bible Study: Exodus 32:7-14, Psalm
51, 1st Timothy 1:12-17 & Luke 15:1-32)
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