From: Luke 15:1-32

Parable’s of God’s Mercy

[1] Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear
Him (Jesus). [2] And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying,
“This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

The Lost Sheep

[3] So He told them this parable: [4] “What man of you, having a
hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the
ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost,
until he finds it? [5] And when he has found it, he lays it on his
shoulders, rejoicing. [6] And when he comes home he calls together
his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, `Rejoice with me, for I
have found my sheep which was lost.’ [7] Just so, I tell you, there will
be more joy in Heaven over one sinner who repents than over
ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

The Lost Coin

[8] “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she lost one coin,
does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until
she finds it? [9] And when she has found it, she calls together her
friends and neighbors, saying, `Rejoice with me, for I have found the
coin which I has lost.’ [10] Just so, I tell you, there is joy before
the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

The Prodigal Son

[11] And He said, “There was a man who had two sons; [12] and the
younger of them said to his father, `Father, give me the share of
property that falls to me.’ And he divided his living between them. [13]
Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took
his journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in
loose living. [14] And when he had spent everything, a great famine
arose in that country, and he began to be in want. [15] So he went and
joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him
into his fields to feed swine. [16] And he would gladly have fed on
the pods that the swine ate; and no one gave him anything. [17] But
when he came to himself he said, `How can many of my father’s hired
servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with
hunger! [18] I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him,
“Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you; [19] I am no
longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired
servants.’” [20] And he arose and came to his father. But while he was
yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran
and embraced him and kissed him. [21] And the son said to him,
`Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you; I am no longer
worthy to be called your son.’ [22] But the father said to his servants,
`Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his
hand, and shoes on his feet; [23] and bring the fatted calf and kill it,
and let us eat and make merry; [24] for this my son was dead, and
is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to make
merry.

[25] “Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew near
to the house, he heard music and dancing. [26] And he called one of
the servants and asked what this meant. [27] And he said to him, `Your
brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because
he has received him safe and sound.’ [28] But he was angry and refused
to go in. His father came out and entreated him, [29] but he answered
his father, `Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never
disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid, that I might
make merry with my friends. [30] But when this son of yours came,
who has devoured your living with harlots, you killed for him the fatted
calf!’ [31] And he said to him, `Son, you are always with me, and all
that is mine is yours. [32] It was fitting to make merry and be glad,
for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is
found.’”

*********************************************************************************************

Commentary:

1-32. Jesus’ actions manifest God’s mercy: He receives sinners in order
to convert them. The scribes and Pharisees, who despised sinners, just
cannot understand why Jesus acts like this; they grumble about Him; and
Jesus uses the opportunity to tell these Mercy parables. “The Gospel
writer who particularly treats of these themes in Christ’s teaching is
Luke, whose Gospel has earned the title of `the Gospel of mercy’” (John
Paul II, “Dives In Misericordia”, 3).

In this chapter St. Luke reports three of these parables in which Jesus
describes the infinite, fatherly mercy of God and His joy at the conversion
of the sinner.

The Gospel teaches that no one is excluded from forgiveness and that
sinners can become beloved children of God if they repent and are
converted. So much does God desire the conversion of sinners that each
of these parables ends with a refrain, as it were, telling of the great
joy in Heaven over sinner who repents.

1-2. This is not the first time that publicans and sinners approach
Jesus (cf. Matthew 9:10). They are attracted by the directness of the
Lord’s preaching and by His call to self-giving and love. The
Pharisees in general were jealous of His influence over the people
(cf. Matthew 26:2-5; John 11:47) a jealousy which can also beset
Christians; a severity of outlook which does not accept that, no matter
how great his sins may have been, a sinner can change and become
a saint; a blindness which prevents a person from recognizing and
rejoicing over the good done by others. Our Lord criticized this
attitude when He replied to His disciples’ complaints about others
casting out devils in His name: “Do not forbid him; for no one who does
a mighty work in My name will be able soon after to speak evil of Me”
(Mark 9:39). And St. Paul rejoiced that others proclaimed Christ and
even overlooked the fact they did so out of self-interest, provided
Christ was preached (cf. Philippians 1:17-18).

5-6. Christian tradition, on the basis of this and other Gospel passages
(cf. John 10:11), applies this parable to Christ, the Good Shepherd, who
misses and then seeks out the lost sheep: the Word, by becoming man,
seeks out mankind, which has strayed through sinning. Here is St.
Gregory the Great’s commentary: “He put the sheep on His shoulders
because, on taking on human nature, He burdened Himself with our
sins” (”In Evangelia Homiliae”, II, 14).

The Second Vatican Council applies these verses of St. Luke to the way
priests should approach their pastoral work: “They should be mindful
that by their daily conduct and solicitude they display the reality of
a truly priestly and pastoral ministry both to believers and unbelievers
alike, to Catholics and non-Catholics; that they are bound to bear
witness before all men of the truth and of the life, and as good
shepherds seek after those too who, whilst having been baptized in
the Catholic Church, have given up the practice of the Sacraments, or
even fallen away from the faith” (”Lumen Gentium”, 28). However, every
member of the faithful should show this same kind of concern—expressed
in a fraternal way—towards his brothers and sisters, towards everyone
on the road to sanctification and salvation.

7. This does not mean that our Lord does not value the perseverance
of the just: He is simply emphasizing the joy of God and the saints
over the conversion of a sinner. This is clearly a call to repentance,
to never doubt God’s readiness to forgive. “Another fall, and what a
fall!... Must you give up hope? No. Humble yourself and, through
Mary, your Mother, have recourse to the merciful Love of Jesus. A
“miserere”, and lift up your heart! And now begin again” ([St] J.
Escriva, “The Way”, 711).

8. This silver coin was a “drachma”, of about the same value as a
denarius, that is, approximately a day’s wage for an agricultural
worker (cf. Matthew 20:2).

11. This is one of Jesus’ most beautiful parables, which teaches us
once more that God is a kind and understanding Father (cf. Matthew
6:8; Romans 8:15; 2 Corinthians 1:3). The son who asks for his part
of the inheritance is a symbol of the person who cuts himself off from
God through sin. “Although the word `mercy’ does not appear, this
parable nevertheless expresses the essence of the divine mercy in
a particularly clear way” (John Paul II, “Dives In Misericordia”, 5).

12. “That son, who receives from the father the portion of the
inheritance that is due him and leaves home to squander it in a far
country `in loose living’, in a certain sense is the man of every
period, beginning with the one who was the first to lose the
inheritance of grace and original justice. The analogy at this point
is very wide-ranging. The parable indirectly touches upon every breach
of the covenant of love, every loss of grace, every sin” (”Dives In
Misericordia”, 5).

14-15. At this point in the parable we are shown the unhappy effects
of sin. The young man’s hunger evokes the anxiety and emptiness a
person feels when he is far from God. The prodigal son’s predicament
describes the enslavement which sin involves (cf. Romans 1:25; 6:6;
Galatians 5:1): by sinning one loses the freedom of the children of God
(cf. Romans 8:21; Galatians 4:31; 5:13) and hands oneself over the
power of Satan.

17-21. His memory of home and his conviction that his father loves him
cause the prodigal son to reflect and to decide to set out on the right
road. “Human life is in some way a constant returning to our Father’s
house. We return through contrition, through the conversion of heart
which means a desire to change, a firm decision to improve our life and
which, therefore, is expressed in sacrifice and self-giving. We return to
our Father’s house by means of that sacrament of pardon in which, by
confessing our sins, we put on Jesus Christ again and become His
brothers, members of God’s family” ([St] J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing
By”, 64).

20-24. God always hopes for the return of the sinner; He wants him to
repent. When the young man arrives home his father does not greet him
with reproaches but with immense compassion, which causes him to
embrace his son and cover him with kisses.

20. “There is no doubt that in this simple but penetrating analogy to
the figure of the father reveals to us God as Father. The conduct of
the father in the parable and his whole behavior, which manifests his
internal attitude, enables us to rediscover the individual threads of
the Old Testament vision of mercy in a synthesis which is totally new,
full of simplicity and depth. The father of the prodigal son is faithful to
this fatherhood, faithful to the love that he had always lavished on his
son. This fidelity is expressed in the parable not only by his immediate
readiness to welcome him home when he returns after having
squandered his inheritance; it is expressed even more fully by that
joy, that merrymaking for the squanderer after his return, merrymaking
which is so generous that it provokes the opposition and hatred of the
elder brother, who had never gone far away from his father and had
never abandoned the home.

“The father’s fidelity to himself [...] is at the same time expressed in a
manner particularly charged with affection. We read, in fact, that when
the father saw the prodigal son returning home `he had COMPASSION,
ran to meet him, threw his arms around his neck and kissed him.’ He
certainly does this under the influence of a deep affection, and this
also explains his generosity towards his son, that generosity which
so angers the elder son” (”Dives In Misericordia”, 6).

“When God runs towards us, we cannot keep silent, but with St. Paul
we exclaim, “ABBA PATER”: `Father, my Father!’ (Romans 8:15), for,
though He is the creator of the universe, He doesn’t mind our not using
high-sounding titles, nor worry about our not acknowledging His
greatness. He wants us to call Him Father; He wants us to savor that
word, our souls filling with joy [...].

“God is waiting for us, like the father in the parable, with open arms,
even though we don’t deserve it. It doesn’t matter how great our debt
is. Just like the prodigal son, all we have to do is open our heart,
to be homesick for our Father’s house, to wonder at and rejoice in the
gift which God makes us of being able to call ourselves His children,
of really being His children, even though our response to Him has been
so poor” ([St] J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 64).

25-30. God’s mercy is so great that man cannot grasp it: as we can
see in the case of the elder son, who thinks his father loves the younger
son excessively, his jealousy prevents him from understanding how his
father can do so much to celebrate the recovery of the prodigal; it
cuts him off from the joy that the whole family feels. “It’s true that
he was a sinner. But don’t pass so final a judgment on him. Have pity
in your heart, and don’t forget that he may yet be an Augustine, while
you remain just another mediocrity” ([St J. Escriva, “The Way”, 675).

We should also consider that if God has compassion towards sinners,
He must have much much more towards those who strive to be faithful
to Him. St. Therese of Lisieux understood this very well: “What joy to
remember that our Lord is just; that He makes allowances for all our
shortcomings, and knows full well how weak we are. What have I to fear
then? Surely the God of infinite justice who pardons the prodigal son
with such mercy will be just with me `who am always with Him’?” (”The
Story of a Soul”, Chapter 8).

32. “Mercy, as Christ has presented it in the parable of the prodigal son,
has THE INTERIOR FORM OF THE LOVE that in the New Testament is
called AGAPE. This love is able to reach down to every prodigal son,
to every human misery, and above all to every form of moral misery, to
sin. When this happens, the person who is the object of mercy does not
feel humiliated, but rather found again and `restored to value’. The father
first and foremost expresses to him his joy, that he has been `found
again’ and that he has `returned to life’. This joy indicates a good that
has remained intact: even if he is a prodigal, a son does not cease to
be truly his father’s son; it also indicates a good that has been found
again, which in the case of the prodigal son was his return to the truth
about himself” (”Dives In Misericordia”, 6).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Readings at Mass

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 ©

I will leave this place and go to my father.

Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.

In your compassion blot out my offence.

O wash me more and more from my guilt

and cleanse me from my sin.

I will leave this place and go to my father.

A pure heart create for me, O God,

put a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from your presence,

nor deprive me of your holy spirit.

I will leave this place and go to my father.

O Lord, open my lips

and my mouth shall declare your praise.

My sacrifice is a contrite spirit.

A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.

I will leave this place and go to my father.

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 Acclamation

cf.Ep1:17,18

Alleluia, alleluia!

May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ

enlighten the eyes of our mind,

so that we can see what hope his call holds for us.

Alleluia!

Or	2Co5:19

Alleluia, alleluia!

God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself,

and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled.

Alleluia!

EITHER:

Gospel

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.”’

OR:

Gospel