There was one person in front of me so I loaded all my groceries onto the conveyor belt at the checkout. But to my utter surprise, the cashier finished counting the change for the previous customer and then turned to me and announced, “It’s time for my break. I’ll see you in 15 minutes” and promptly marched off.
I stood there for a moment in stunned silence, and then loaded up my groceries again in my cart and moved to a different checkout line. By following the rules, with complete disregard for the person standing in front of her, this casher lost all chance of connection with her customers.
I wonder if sometimes we are also tempted to act the same way, even when we are at Mass. We might have a specific tradition about the way we do things in our parish. Then a visitor joins us, and unwittingly does something differently. How do we treat them?
Someone might have a customary pew they sit in, and arrive at Mass to find it occupied. Perhaps the liturgist plays a new song that is not our list of familiar favorites. Perhaps someone new to the parish looks or acts differently, or seems to not know what is going on in the liturgy. Perhaps there is a family sitting near us struggling with young children. How do we treat these people?
It is interesting that a great deal of our inner struggle to accept others, is not about people breaking God’s law, but annoyance over our own personal preferences.
In our Gospel the Pharisee and scribes grumble against Jesus, because he is willing to eat with irreligious ‘sinners’ who appear to not really be trying to observe the Law.
The purpose of the law was to keep us in relationship with God, and ultimately to lead us to happiness. Jesus is drawn to love those who are confused about happiness. In fact, he prefers to sit with sinners!
The Pharisees and scribes focused on external appearances. They are proud of following the law, and they think they are better than others. Today the word Pharisee a bad word, meaning a religious hypocrite. I think most people would intuitively think this is not about them.
Yet each of us can examine our hearts. Am I truly imitating Jesus in his love for those on the periphery? Do I go out of my way to befriend those who others consider socially undesirable? Jesus did! With complete disregard for what others think, Jesus was deliberately friendly to socially undesirable people. He did this with the express desire of bringing them closer to God. Being lost does not remove us from God’s care. In fact God’s heart pursues them with great passion!
In each of these parables, Jesus points to the joy of finding what is lost. This is not tight-lipped, gloomy faced tolerance. I’m not happy with you, but I will put up with you. Instead it is joy!
This can be a point of pain for some people. If God goes after the one who is lost, what about the other ninety-nine? Yet clearly God loves the ninety-nine as well. He loves each one of us more than we love ourselves!
Many of us, as parents, have experienced one of our children wandering off into difficulties and painful circumstances. If we pursue this troubled child, with a father’s love, or a mother’s love, does this take away from our love for our other children? Is love like money that can be overspent and used up? If you are like me, we can easily accuse ourselves of having not loved enough, but can we ever say we loved too much?
In the heart of our heavenly Father, it is not okay that the coin or sheep are lost, they must be found. God is compelled by love and mercy to search for them. And then mysteriously, God promises that the very act of finding them and bringing them home leads to personal, communal and even heavenly joy (15:6, 9-10, 24, 32). This joy is supernatural!
In our modern world there are two opposing rocks which can shipwreck our faith (CCC 2092). One is a kind of cheap grace that seeks mercy without conversion. By befriending the lost we are not merely tolerating them, as if it is okay to be lost and remain in that state, we are seeking to find and save the lost so that they may be restored to relationship with the fold. Our friendship, acceptance and relationship are guided with the purpose of restoring each person to God's fold.
In the parable of the prodigal son, the lost young man “came to himself” and realized the error of his ways, and returned to his father in repentance saying “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you (Luke 15:18). This is clearly an image of conversion.
The other opposing rock is the attitude of the Pharisee and scribes, but also in the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son. Perhaps someone has begun to think that they have saved themselves by being good. The sight of sinners coming to repentance causes them to be jealous, and perhaps even to feel cheated. After all, they haven't been trying much harder than the wayward son.
In the words of the elder brother, “Behold, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command” (Luke 15:29). Yet, we must ask, was it this son’s obedience that earned him the title of the elder son of his father? Even for the older son, the name son is a gift from the father. He did not earn it, as the Father reminds him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours” (Luke 15:31).
Each one of us must imitate our Lord by seeking the lost and becoming a friend of sinners. Like our Heavenly Father we need to prioritize finding the lost. In order to begin this journey we must recognize that all that we have is from God, and pray that God would share his heart with us.
Imagine what changes would take place in our life if each of us earnestly begged God to share his love for the lost with us, and allow it to soften our hearts. Inspired by this love, let us each imitate Jesus anew by genuinely befriending those who have wandered off. We may discover in this, new found joy. Let us pray, Lord give me a passion for the lost. May it burn within me, and overflow with your joy.
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