Word to the Wise
Thursday, November 5, 2015 - Thursday in the 31th Week in Ordinary Time
[Rom 14:7-12 and Luke 15:1-10]THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2015 THURSDAY IN THE THIRTY-FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME [Romans 14:7-12 and Luke 15:1-10] The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." [Luke] Even a superficial reading of the New Testament will reveal the importance of table fellowship. Jesus is often depicted at banquets and his parables include banquets. In the society of his time, who you ate with and where you sat was an indication of how much "honor" you enjoyed. The Pharisees and scribes would not associate with persons who engaged in certain trades that were considered "unclean"." Tax collectors handled Roman coinage, which was considered idolatrous and pagan. We know from the calling of Matthew (Levi) who was a tax collector that Jesus had no problem associating with people of all kinds, even Pharisees and scribes. When he hears of their complaint about him, he responds with three parables: the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and (not in today's gospel) the Prodigal Son. He even gets in a sly dig at them by asking them to imagine themselves as shepherds, something they would not dream of doing. Pope Francis is attracting a lot of criticism from certain quarters in the church because he is doing precisely what Jesus does in today's gospel. He is going after the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost child. He is even asking that we all rejoice with him that he is getting these lost ones back into the fold. The sour judgments of the scribes and Pharisees did not stop Jesus, and the current critics of Pope Francis are not likely to stop him either, thank goodness. After reading today's gospel, I hope the Beloved Congregation will read on to the third parable, the Prodigal Son, and ask whether it would be better to be the younger "lost" one or the older angry one. AMEN
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