GOSPEL COMMENTARY Sept. 11, Lk 15:1-32
The book of Exodus narrates a perfect example of how stubborn, thoughtless and completely unappreciative we can be at times. It does so by highlighting a very ugly moment in the life of the Hebrew people. They recently had witnessed a powerful series of God’s marvelous deeds. God sent 10 plagues down upon the Egyptian people, the last of which finally broke through Pharaoh’s obstinacy. The Lord proceeds to free the Hebrew people from 400 years of slavery to the Egyptians. By God’s hand, his people miraculously cross the Red Sea on dry ground and turn around to watch Pharaoh’s army and charioteers drown in the receding waters. God, then, wondrously provides water from a rock as well as bread every morning and meat every evening as they journey through the desert.
After all of these marvels, the Hebrew people become frustrated with both God and Moses while Moses spends 40 days and nights up on the mountain praying to and communing with God. They forget who had taken such good care of them, and they proceed to fashion a molten calf out of gold, worship the calf and offer sacrifices to it. What an enormous failure in gratitude.
It is easy for us to point our finger at the Hebrew people and arrogantly complain about their lack of faith and appreciation for God’s goodness. In truth, we all do very similar things in our own day. We forget all that God does for us every day of our lives — every breath, every heartbeat, every morsel of food that passes our lips, every offer to forgive our sins, etc. We turn to our own idols such as money, power, prestige and entertainment. We worship them with our time and attention. We fail to give God his due.
We all need the critical virtue of humility to see and to accept how often we turn to idols. St. Paul provides a wonderful example of humility and contrition in his letter to Timothy today. “I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and arrogant, but I have been mercifully treated … Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of these I am the foremost.” What humility.
Furthermore, it does us all good to spend more time marveling at Jesus’ patience with us and his profound desire that we be restored to a genuine and joyful relationship with him and his heavenly Father. Jesus wants us to remain by his side, to be a member of his team and to live each day with a keen awareness of our tremendous need for his wisdom and strength.
In an effort to assist us with marveling at his patience, Our Blessed Lord presents the three famous parables in a row, focusing on a lost sheep, a lost coin and a lost son. Each parable gives a different perspective on the obvious pain at the lost item or person, the dedicated effort to find what was lost and the tremendous joy at the discovery or return. The words of the father in the last parable speak volumes: “But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.”
I suggest that today’s readings invite us to ask God for three graces. First, the humility to see the ways in which we, like the Hebrew people, can be stiff-necked; second, the kind of sorrow that leads us to genuine contrition; and third, the willingness to allow ourselves to be found by Christ who never stops searching after us and offering us new life in him.
Fr. Peterson is director of mission and development for the Youth Apostles.
A lesson in humility
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GOSPEL COMMENTARY Sept. 11, Lk 15:1-32
The book of Exodus narrates a perfect example of how stubborn, thoughtless and completely unappreciative we can be at times. It does so by highlighting a very ugly moment in the life of the Hebrew people. They recently had witnessed a powerful series of God’s marvelous deeds. God sent 10 plagues down upon the Egyptian people, the last of which finally broke through Pharaoh’s obstinacy. The Lord proceeds to free the Hebrew people from 400 years of slavery to the Egyptians. By God’s hand, his people miraculously cross the Red Sea on dry ground and turn around to watch Pharaoh’s army and charioteers drown in the receding waters. God, then, wondrously provides water from a rock as well as bread every morning and meat every evening as they journey through the desert.
After all of these marvels, the Hebrew people become frustrated with both God and Moses while Moses spends 40 days and nights up on the mountain praying to and communing with God. They forget who had taken such good care of them, and they proceed to fashion a molten calf out of gold, worship the calf and offer sacrifices to it. What an enormous failure in gratitude.
It is easy for us to point our finger at the Hebrew people and arrogantly complain about their lack of faith and appreciation for God’s goodness. In truth, we all do very similar things in our own day. We forget all that God does for us every day of our lives — every breath, every heartbeat, every morsel of food that passes our lips, every offer to forgive our sins, etc. We turn to our own idols such as money, power, prestige and entertainment. We worship them with our time and attention. We fail to give God his due.
We all need the critical virtue of humility to see and to accept how often we turn to idols. St. Paul provides a wonderful example of humility and contrition in his letter to Timothy today. “I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and arrogant, but I have been mercifully treated … Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of these I am the foremost.” What humility.
Furthermore, it does us all good to spend more time marveling at Jesus’ patience with us and his profound desire that we be restored to a genuine and joyful relationship with him and his heavenly Father. Jesus wants us to remain by his side, to be a member of his team and to live each day with a keen awareness of our tremendous need for his wisdom and strength.
In an effort to assist us with marveling at his patience, Our Blessed Lord presents the three famous parables in a row, focusing on a lost sheep, a lost coin and a lost son. Each parable gives a different perspective on the obvious pain at the lost item or person, the dedicated effort to find what was lost and the tremendous joy at the discovery or return. The words of the father in the last parable speak volumes: “But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.”
I suggest that today’s readings invite us to ask God for three graces. First, the humility to see the ways in which we, like the Hebrew people, can be stiff-necked; second, the kind of sorrow that leads us to genuine contrition; and third, the willingness to allow ourselves to be found by Christ who never stops searching after us and offering us new life in him.
Fr. Peterson is director of mission and development for the Youth Apostles.
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