24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
12 September 2010
First reading Exodus 32:7-11,13-14
The Lord spoke to Moses, ‘Go down now, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have apostatised. They have been quick to leave the way I marked out for them; they have made themselves a calf of molten metal and have worshipped it and offered it sacrifice. “Here is your God, Israel,” they have cried “who brought you up from the land of Egypt!”’ the Lord said to Moses, ‘I can see how headstrong these people are! Leave me, now, my wrath shall blaze out against them and devour them; of you, however, I will make a great nation.’
But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God. ‘Lord,’ he said ‘why should your wrath blaze out against this people of yours whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with arm outstretched and mighty hand? Remember Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, your servants to whom by your own self you swore and made this promise: “I will make your offspring as many as the stars of heaven, and all this land which I promised I will give to your descendants, and it shall be their heritage for ever.”’
So the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.
Psalm: Psalm 50:3-4,12-13,17,19
Second reading 1 Timothy 1:12-17
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, and who judged me faithful enough to call me into his service even though I used to be a blasphemer and did all I could to injure and discredit the faith. Mercy, however, was shown me, because until I became a believer I had been acting in ignorance; and the grace of our Lord filled me with faith and with the love that is in Christ Jesus. Here is a saying that you can rely on and nobody should doubt: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. I myself am the greatest of them; and if mercy has been shown to me, it is because Jesus Christ meant to make me the greatest evidence of his inexhaustible patience for all the other people who would later have to trust in him to come to eternal life. To the eternal King, the undying, invisible and only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Luke 14:25-33
The tax collectors and the sinners were all seeking the company of Jesus to hear what he had to say, and the Pharisees and the scribes complained. ‘This man’ they said ‘welcomes sinners and eats with them.’ So he spoke this parable to them:
‘What man among you with a hundred sheep, losing one, would not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the missing one till he found it? And when he found it, would he not joyfully take it on his shoulders and then, when he got home, call together his friends and neighbours? “Rejoice with me,” he would say “I have found my sheep that was lost.” In the same way, I tell you, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine virtuous men who have no need of repentance.
‘Or again, what woman with ten drachmas would not, if she lost one, light a lamp and sweep out the house and search thoroughly till she found it? And then, when she had found it, call together her friends and neighbours? “Rejoice with me,” she would say “I have found the drachma I lost.” In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one repentant sinner.’
He also said, ‘A man had two sons. The younger said to his father, “Father, let me have the share of the estate that would come to me.” So the father divided the property between them. A few days later, the younger son got together everything he had and left for a distant country where he squandered his money on a life of debauchery.
‘When he had spent it all, that country experienced a severe famine, and now he began to feel the pinch, so he hired himself out to one of the local inhabitants who put him on his farm to feed the pigs. And he would willingly have filled his belly with the husks the pigs were eating but no one offered him anything. Then he came to his senses and said, “How many of my father’s paid servants have more food than they want, and here am I dying of hunger! I will leave this place and go to my father and say: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as one of your paid servants.” So he left the place and went back to his father.
‘While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him tenderly. Then his son said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.” But the father said to his servants, “Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the calf we have been fattening, and kill it; we are going to have a feast, a celebration, because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found.” And they began to celebrate.
‘Now the elder son was out in the fields, and on his way back, as he drew near the house, he could hear music and dancing. Calling one of the servants he asked what it was all about. “Your brother has come” replied the servant “and your father has killed the calf we had fattened because he has got him back safe and sound.” He was angry then and refused to go in, and his father came out to plead with him; but he answered his father, “Look, all these years I have slaved for you and never once disobeyed your orders, yet you never offered me so much as a kid for me to celebrate with my friends. But, for this son of yours, when he comes back after swallowing up your property – he and his women – you kill the calf we had been fattening.”
‘The father said, “My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours. But it was only right we should celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found.”’
Reflection
By Pam Manzano
Around January last year, I was with my ex-fiancé and we were living under one roof. Unfortunately, we encountered a problem that left me hanging. I decided to move out from the house and live with one of my girl-friends and her family. I lived with my friend for about two months or maybe more.
I already have a year-old son during that time and he was living with my relatives. I was in Caloocan, my Piel in Laguna.
I don’t have plans of returning home. I was badly hurt and out of my self. Anger was controlling me; telling me that I need to get even with my ex-fiancé. I neglected my responsibilities and duties as a mother to my son and a daughter to my mom. No matter how hard my friend tried to comfort and put me in the right direction, it was I who constantly refused.
I was so decided to live with myself and not to return home. I have always thought that if I return home, my family would blame me for my hard-headedness and for everything bad that had happened to me since then. I was so childish that what I needed that time was to be cajoled out of my non-sense lament. I was so directed towards my own desire to get even, to make him pay.
It was until the last week of April that I got a call from my mom. I was expecting her to be so angry at me, after I ran away from home and forgot my kid. Who wouldn’t expect that anyway? I was so stupid for I feared answering my mobile. It was her second call that I answered and much to my surprise, she sounded so concerned, calmed, and loving. So far from the angry mama I was expecting to talk to.
The impact of her voice, her call, her constant love that I felt at the time I heard her “hello” melted my heart instantly. I craved for her touch, for my mom’s warm hug. Her soft pleading for me to come home made me realize that other than letting myself be a slave of anger and disappointment, I have other things in the world to be thankful for: and my family is one of them.
Today’s Gospel talks about the prodigal son who went back home after he had spent everything his father has given him. His realization that his father’s servants have more than what he has drove him back. And like a lost sheep, his father welcomed him with a feast celebrating his return.
Most of the time, we act like the prodigal son who demands our Father to give everything we want. If what He gives is not exactly what we want, we rebel from His love thinking we can carry on everything by ourselves. Usually it is until such a later time that we realize we are wrong in what we’ve done and we have two choices: either we humble ourselves and ask for forgiveness or continue living the miserable life God did not intend for us. Are we like the prodigal son who went home and humbly asked for forgiveness?
The story might be a cliché for all of us who grew up in a Christian family. But when have we sincerely decided to come home to God and forget the worldly things that hinder us to see and experience His unfailing love? Let us not forget that without God, we are nothing.
God never fails. This Sunday’s Gospel is a reminder for us that no matter how bad we might have been God still loves us and is ready to welcome us back into His unending grace and love. Just like how my mother lovingly welcomed me, our Father in heaven together with the angels and saints would surely love to see us, the prodigal children, back home.
Almighty Father, we Your children seek Your mercy and asks for forgiveness. Welcome us back to Your love, oh Lord, that we may experience the true joy of Your loving kindness. This we pray in Jesus name, Amen.
Humility is not denying the truth. Humility is the acceptance of truth.
Tool or Master?
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