Psalm 51
1 Timothy 1:12-17
Luke 15:1-32
THE FOUNTAIN OF MERCY
Today’s readings invite us to meditate on the mercy of God. We serve a God who is full of love, mercy and compassion, slow to anger and always ready to forgive our transgressions. In the first reading, God relented from his blazing wrath when Moses pleaded on behalf of the people of Israel. For they transgressed the first commandment of the Lord their God by making a golden calf and worshipping it.
The responsorial psalm is one of the famous penitential psalm attributed to king David. It is believed that after his double crime of adultery with Bathsheba and of murder of Urriah, Bathsheba’s husband, he felt the weight of his sin; and so he pleads for God’s mercy and forgiveness. In the second reading, St Paul expresses his joy and gratitude to Christ Jesus for his wonderful mercy and inexhaustible grace shown to him. He recognizes that he is a forgiven sinner and persecutor of the Church who tried to discredit the Christian faith. But God has been generous and merciful to him making him a minister of the Gospel.
The fifteen chapter of Luke’s gospel account has been known as the “gospel of the lost”. It presents three parables of Jesus as a response to the Pharisees and scribes who accused him of being in the company of sinners and tax-collectors: the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin and the parable of the lost son (popularly known as the parable of the prodigal son). They give different images of God, but their message is the same: God is a Father who can go to any length to bring the sinner back to a loving relationship with himself. He loves everyone and wishes everyone to be at home. That is why he would go out looking for the lost, bring him back home and celebrate his return.
Thus, we serve a God who is merciful, compassionate and forgiving. He does not treat us as our faults deserve. Consequently, we may be sure of this: no matter how sinful we are, God still loves us. Despite our history often marked by failures, sin, and waywardness, God wants to make something great out of us. His outreaching love and unconditional compassion remain unchanging. Nevertheless, neither can we take his merciful love for granted nor consider his forgiveness as a “sinning license”. We must always strive to avoid the near occasion of sin so as not to go astray and get lost, but always remain at home with him. May we celebrate this Sunday Eucharist with grateful hearts as people reconciled with God their Father in Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and honour for ever and ever. Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment