Homilies | Father Nathan

Father Nathan | Homily

24th Sunday Ordinary Time

Introduction:

Today’s readings informs us that how precious we are in the eye of the Lord. His love is so great that he always comes after us.

The liturgy tells us that His love is blind and unconditional toward us.

He is our loving and forgiving Heavenly Father who wants to save everyone through His Son Jesus.

He (God) is always in search of His lost and straying children, as Jesus explains in the three parables of today’s Gospel [Luke 15:1-32].

God hates sin never the sinner….

Scripture Lessons Summarized:

The First Reading

In today’s first reading, taken from Exodus, Moses is imploring a forgiving God to have mercy on the sinful people who have abandoned Him and turned to idol worship. He reminds God of His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The Responsorial Psalm

Today’s Responsorial Psalm, Ps 51 is the song of the sinful man returning to God to seek His mercy.

The Second Reading

In today’s second reading, Paul tells Timothy that, although he, Paul, had been the greatest of sinners as the former persecutor of the Church, God has shown great mercy towards him.

Today’s Gospel

Chapter 15 of Luke’s Gospel has been called

“the Gospel within the Gospel,” because it is the distilled essence of the Good News about the mercy of our forgiving Heavenly Father.

The whole chapter is essentially one distinct parable, the “Parable of the Lost and Found,” with three illustrations: the story of the lost sheep, the story of the lost coin and the story of the lost son.

These parables remind us that we have a God who welcomes sinners and forgives their sins whenever they return to Him with genuine contrition and resolution.

The Hebrew term for repentance, teshuvá, means a return to God by a person who has already experienced God’s “goodness and compassion” (Ps. 51).

Life Messages:

1. We are called to cherish the love of the Father.
2. We are invited to taste His love and abide with him all the time.
3. We can not be do anything to lose His  (God’s) love.

There is quite a beautiful connection between Luke chapter 15 and John chapter 15.

In Luke 15 let us follow the ACTIONS of the father in the 3rd parable, The Prodigal Son.

His father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

Bring out the best robe, and put it on him” (our baptism and confession ).

“Put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet”- (authority and sonship).

Additional Thoughts to Contemplate

Promises from the Parable of the Prodigal son

• I am [we are] the prodigal son every time I/we search for unconditional love where it cannot be found.
• The difference between mercy and grace?
  • Mercy gave the prodigal son a second chance
  • Grace gave him a feast.
• We want to be saved from our misery, but not from our sin. We want to sin without misery, just as the prodigal son wanted inheritance without the father. The foremost spiritual law of the physical universe is that this hope can never be realized. Sin always accompanies misery. There is no victimless crime, and all creation is subject to decay because of humanity’s rebellion from God.
• It is for us to begin.

If we take one step towards the Lord, he takes ten towards us

— he who saw the prodigal son while he was at a distance, and had compassion and ran and embraced him.

Have a Blessed Week,

Fr. Nathan