Word to the Wise
Thursday, November 6, 2008 - Bl. Alphonsus Navarrete, O.P. and Companions - Dominican Martyrs of Japan
[Philippians 3:3-8A and Luke 15:1-10]I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
I think it's Lloyd's of London, a famous maritime insurance cooperative, that has a bell in their great hall that is rung anytime one of their insured vessels is sunk! And the McDonald's fast food restaurants used to advertise how many burgers they had sold worldwide till it got to be too much! These two images came to me as I wondered about the "rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Is there some kind of gong? Do they even keep score? I rather doubt the number matters, but the event.....ah now, that is always important! Yet, to concentrate on that is to miss something of great import in today's gospel scripture: the God who keeps trying to bring the stray and the lost back to where they are safe. Jesus was often criticized for his dinner companions! "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them!" Actually, a "sinner" in this instance could have been anyone who engaged in a trade that was considered "unclean" such as tax collecting! How could it be that he would welcome such people in the "kingdom?" The woman's coin, if it was a drachma, would be a day's wages! Wouldn't you hunt high and low for your paycheck? In short, Jesus is being rather inclusive and the danger for the righteous is pride and jealousy about God's mercy. How COULD God invite such people? If it means a change from "sin" to a life of "grace," that is what Jesus claims to be his mission! If the angels rejoice over this, how can any human whine and sulk? AMEN
config
view
logs
3840.0 KB
66 ms
4
