The theme of this Sunday’s readings Exodus 32: 7–11, 13–14; Psalm 51; 1 Timothy 1: 12–17; Luke 15: 1–32 is on the nature of the unlimited mercy of God to his people. The book of Exodus speaks of God’s goodness to man despite of his unfaithfulness. The Gospel in three parables shows us how unlimited is the mercy of God in which we must all put our hope and trust. The first parable is of the lost sheep; where the shepherd loses one sheep and leaves the ninety-nine in the open country and goes after the lost one until he finds it. The second is of the lost coin: a woman with ten silver coins loses one, and lights up a lamp, sweeps the house and searches carefully until she finds it. The two parables show how caring God is for his people who get lost. The third is of the prodigal son, who approached his father and asked for the share of his inheritance, which he squandered only to come back for mercy when he was so frustrated. But the father was so glad to see him return. And on seeing him, he celebrated because his son was thought dead but found alive. These parables tell us of the merciful and loving God who does not seek to punish, but to reconcile and bring us home to his banquet table and restore our dignity. He is the shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine unattended in order to tirelessly search for us in the wilderness and who rejoices and carries us home tenderly when he finds us. He is like the woman who does not cease to search until she finds that missing silver piece, and when she finds it, she is filled with joy. In the third parable, God is depicted as the merciful father of the prodigal son. Although he was rejected and betrayed by his own son, he is worried only to “get him back alive.” When the son was so desperate and humiliated, starving to death, he thought of going back to his father. Only then the father overlooked everything and received him back restoring him to his place as a son with all the rights and dignity he had before. This gives us a lesson on the nature of God’s mercy: He does not expect us to be perfect in every aspect, but we must allow him to forgive and reconcile us to his love. We must at least express this willingness. Just as it is possible that the prodigal son was not perfectly contrite; but at least when he was desperate, he thought of going back to the father, hence giving the father a chance to demonstrate his capacity to forgive. God is merciful but he is also equally just. His is the kind of mercy that calls us to reform our lives and live from now on in gratitude as sons. But the problem with the modern man is that at times he likes to nurse the idea that God is merciful at all times, and if that would be the case, nothing would embolden sin so much as mercy. Unfortunately, this is the problem of our generation as says Aiden Wilson Tozer, a famous American author: The vague and tenuous hope that God is too kind to punish the ungodly has become a deadly opiate for the consciences of millions! Even before the Divine mercy, reconciliation has to be built with full recognition and accountability for the wrong. It is in this way that we need to live in the true perspective of the mercy of God, for it is the way God demonstrates his love for us: He is merciful but he as well likes justice. It is precisely from that point of view above that John Paul II in one of his works Dives in Misericordia, states that we live in a world that is afraid of the mercy of God. We are afraid of that mercy because it changes us, it calls us to reform our lives and live responsibly in gratitude as sons and daughters of God. But at times we seem to want to continue to live in slavery to our sins and passions. Lin Yutang, who is considered the most influential writer of his generation, warns us on this point: ‘Today we are afraid to simple works like goodness and mercy and kindness. We don’t believe in the good old words because we don’t believe in good old values anymore. And that is why the world is sick.’ And in order to heal the world we better think with our heart. Ends
