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First Reading:  Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14

Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Go down at once, for your people whom you brought here from Egypt have become corrupt. They have quickly left the way which I ordered them to follow. They have cast themselves a metal calf, worshipped it and offered sacrifice to it, shouting, "Israel, here is your God who brought you here from Egypt!" '

Yahweh then said to Moses, 'I know these people; I know how obstinate they are! So leave me now, so that my anger can blaze at them and I can put an end to them! I shall make a great nation out of you instead.' Moses tried to pacify Yahweh his God. 'Yahweh,' he said, 'why should your anger blaze at your people, whom you have brought out of Egypt by your great power and mighty hand?

Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to whom you swore by your very self and made this promise: "I shall make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven, and this whole country of which I have spoken, I shall give to your descendants, and it will be their heritage forever." Yahweh then relented over the disaster which he had intended to inflict on his people.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 51:3-4, 12-13, 17, 19

Second Reading: 1Timothy 1:12-17

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength. By calling me into his service he has judged me trustworthy, even though I used to be a blasphemer and a persecutor and contemptuous. Mercy, however, was shown me, because while I lacked faith I acted in ignorance; but 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 leading example of his inexhaustible patience for all the other people who were later to trust in him for eternal life. To the eternal King, the undying, invisible and only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Gospel:  Luke 15:1-32

The tax collectors and sinners, however, were all crowding round to listen to him, and the Pharisees and scribes complained saying, 'This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.' So he told them this parable: 'Which one of you with a hundred sheep, if he lost one, would fail to leave the ninety-nine in the desert 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, saying to them, "Rejoice with me, I have found my sheep that was lost." In the same way, I tell you, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner repenting than over ninety-nine upright people 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, saying to them, "Rejoice with me, 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.'

Then he said, 'There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, "Father, let me have the share of the estate that will 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 himself with the husks the pigs were eating but no one would let him have them. Then he came to his senses and said, "How many of my father's hired men have all the food they want and more, 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 hired men."

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. 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 will celebrate by having a feast, 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.

The servant told him, "Your brother has come, and your father has killed the calf we had been fattening because he has got him back safe and sound." He was angry then and refused to go in, and his father came out and began to urge him to come in; but he retorted to his father, "All these years I have slaved for you and never once disobeyed any orders of yours, 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 loose 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 Theresa Ballo

We all have our great stories of being lost, whether when we were a child, a struggling teenager or just a lost adult. We were all confused on which path to take, made mistakes and hurt people. Thus, we take delight in being found, in finding our way home.

Do you sometimes doubt the infinite love and mercy of God? Do you at times feel ashamed of presenting yourself to the Lord? Was there ever a time you felt you are not anymore worthy of the love of God? Just because you have offended God for so many times already, running away from Him seems the easiest thing to do.

The crises in my life always come late with my age. After college, I had the so-called. “teenager blues” or identity crises. I tried doing the YOLO (You Only Live Once) lifestyle, doing things that would give instant pleasure. My adventurous personality went beyond its limit. No fear, as the Nike ad would say, until my body got tired. I was wearing a beautiful mask, trying to present a responsible daughter and an energetic youth in the service of the Parish yet when the limelight was off; there I was staying on a dark pit. I was exactly like the prodigal son. Yet, instead of coming home, I literally ran away from home because of shame and guilt. My three years away from home, living with just the basics and dealing with strangers became my purification state. It was hard. I became so vulnerable to God’s loving mercy.

God’s love is always there for you. No matter who you are and no matter how grave the sins that you have committed, God’s love never ceases. It does not go empty. As a matter of fact God is always seeking you and ever ready to embrace you with his unconditional love once again. The Gospel this Sunday, tells three stories of God’s love and mercy. God never stops searching for the lost. He gives pardon without any condition. God’s love is always seeking and forgiving. Embrace therefore this love and win the battle of turning away from sins. Learn from our mistakes, move on and live with compassion and mercy for others, for we know how it is to suffer in the first place.

More so, let us strive not to become the Pharisees who only rejoice in the righteousness of oneself. As a Church, may we be like Jesus who welcomes the sinners. If we truly understand the grace of God, we will welcome sinners as those, like us, who are undeserving of God’s favor, and rejoice when they experience grace as we have.

Let us all be reminded that Jesus, whom we adore and worship, is a God of mercy, a God of forgiveness and a God of infinite love.

Prayer
Father God,

Teach us to be like you in accepting sinners, like us. May we show compassion to others who think and act differently from us. Give us a forgiving heart so we free ourselves from hatred. May we become instruments of your peace and love. Amen.