The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

A commentary on the Scripture readings from the Sunday Lectionary

(Scripture readings for Sunday, September 16th: Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-32)

REPENT AND ALL OF HEAVEN WILL REJOICE

In this week’s gospel reading, we get to hear the entire 15th chapter of Luke, which has been called a “gospel within the gospel.” (We get to hear it, that is, if the deacon or priest chooses to read the whole thing, rather than flip to the “shorter form” option, which I suppose is available because we Catholics are so immersed in Scripture we don’t need to hear it—and God forbid that Mass might last a couple minutes longer than an hour.) Luke chapter 15 contains the essence of the Good News, namely that God is merciful, loving, and forgiving rather than cruel, arbitrary, and vindictive.

This is no small point. Throughout history human beings have attempted to be in a proper relationship with the divine world. The history of man is the history of a multitude of religious practices. Acting from an absence of knowledge, however, mankind usually projected human characteristics onto the deities. Since one of the key traits of man is that those with power wield it unmercifully over the weak, this became a key trait of the pagan gods.

Hence such practices as human sacrifice. An angry, petty, unpredictable god needed to be amused and appeased. The thinking was: Hey, whatever it takes to keep him from sending lightning bolts or earthquakes or whatever else at us. Go round up some virgins and break out the set of Ginsu knives.

One of the primary reasons God took on human form in the person of Jesus Christ was to educate us. The lack of knowledge which kept sending mankind off onto sincere but misguided religious tangents needed to be corrected. Mankind needed to know that his Creator was not some clenched-fisted despot just waiting to stomp on us like so many ants. We needed to know that the one true God created us out of love, and desires only that we share our love with Him and with each other.

Reading through the gospels, Jesus is almost like a broken record. Dozens and dozens of times He used the phrase, “The kingdom of God…” in describing what Heaven is like and what God expects from us. Jesus summarized this startling truth about God when He quoted from the Old Testament: “I desire mercy not sacrifice” (Hosea 6:6).

The bulk of the gospel reading this week is the parable of the Prodigal Son, which was also the reading back in March (which might be the reason the deacon or priest chooses to skip it). But this time around, we also get to hear two mini-parables that demonstrate God’s powerful love for us all, and how deeply He desires for us to turn to Him.

In the first parable, Jesus described a shepherd who has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. He asked, “Would (he) not leave the ninety-nine…and go after the lost one until he finds it?”

Jesus explained that the shepherd is joyful when he finally finds the lost sheep, going so far as to invite his friends and neighbors to rejoice with him because one solitary sheep did not meet a terrible end.

Jesus then made the connection between this parable and the kingdom of God: “I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in Heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.”

The second mini-parable is about a woman with ten valuable coins who loses one. She frantically searches everywhere for the coin and when she finally finds it, she, too, invites her friends and neighbors to rejoice with her.

Jesus repeats the message: “There will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Do you see the compassion and mercy and love at work here? Contrary to popular misunderstanding, God does not delight in sending people to Hell. In fact, He grieves when people turn away from Him, thereby sealing their own fates. It’s not God’s doing. It’s our own doing as a result of the gift of free will.

God doesn’t cast us out; He leaves the door unlocked and we can freely choose to stay or walk away.

Just like the prodigal son. He insisted on exercising his free will and he walked through the unlocked door away from his father’s house. But when he had thoroughly screwed up his life, he repented and came back, hoping only to be hired as a servant on his father’s estate.

Incredibly, his father—a prominent, wealthy land owner with far more important things to do—spent his time gazing at the horizon, yearning to glimpse his long lost son.

When he finally saw his son, he sprinted down the road to embrace him. In Middle Eastern culture, this behavior was completely undignified.

God loves us the same way the father loved his prodigal son. He doesn’t want to punish us for our transgressions; He want to forgive and forget and embrace us. All we need to do is repent and turn back to God. The angels in Heaven are just waiting to explode with rejoicing.

(And if you don’t get to hear all of Luke chapter 15 this week, read it when you get home. It will be well worth it, and I suspect the angels in Heaven will rejoice—either that or they’ll faint from surprise that a Catholic actually would read the Bible at home.)

©2007