MY daily reflection and prayer:
Sunday, September 11, 2016
Twenty-Fourth in Ordinary Time
Dear my friends,
Here is the Gospel for us today according to St. Luke in Ordinary Time
Dear my friends,
Here is the Gospel for us today according to St. Luke 15:1-32
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, `Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, `Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” And he said, “There was a man who had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father, `Father, give me the share of property that falls to me.’ And he divided his living between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in loose living. And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, `How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.”‘ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, `Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, `Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to make merry. “Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what this meant. And he said to him, `Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and sound.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, `Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you killed for him the fatted calf!’ And he said to him, `Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'”
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.
***
SO many times we read and reflect on the Parable of the Prodigal Son. In fact it is like a kaleidoscope. It offers countless beautiful insights into what it means to follow Jesus Christ.
One of the insights we can reflect is about the greatest danger we face as so-called the danger of a superficial faith. It is the danger of living our faith only on the surface, of not letting it penetrate the depths of our hearts, souls and lives. It means that we live in the Father’s house but without really getting to know the loving merciful God of our Father.
It happens to both of the father’s sons, the younger and the older son. They don’t really know how much their father loves them. So, although they have lived their entire lives under the same roof, the two brothers have never opened their hearts to their father. They have closed themselves into the petty little world of their egoism. Let’s see one by one.
The younger son doesn’t know how much his father loves him and how eagerly his father wants to bequeath him prosperity and joy. As a result, he pays his father a colossal insult by demanding his share of the inheritance while his father is still alive. It is a way of saying that his father will be of more use to him dead than alive. It’s very terrible attitude.
The older son is no better. On the surface he seems to do everything right. But, he has no idea about how much his father cares for him. It’s why he so resents the celebration at his brother’s return which his father helds.
What can we learn from today’s Gospel reading? We realize that we can easily do the same. We are like both of the father’s sons.
We spend our whole lives as practicing Catholics in a superficial faith. Sometimes we are going through all the right motions and looking great on the outside, but in fact we are not opening our hearts to God, the loving merciful Father. We are not getting to know and experience him on a personal and intimate level.
That’s a risky way to live our superficial faith. We can easily end up separated from the Father for good, missing out on the joyful celebration of the Father’s love. Something temporal makes us so self-centered and distracted that we are never able to get to know our God the Father who so loves us. We are too busy to read the Bible, to follow the daily Holy Mass, and to participate in the Perpetual Adoration of the Eucharist.
Trully, Perpetual Adoration of the Eucharist is one of the best way for us to experience the loving merciful God the Father through Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. In this Sacrament, the Almighty, the Eternity, has made Himself close to each of us. He has really become Emmanuel, God-with-us. There we experience God, the Father through Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit on a personal and intimate level. Do we trust in him entirely and love him with all our hearts, souls and lives?
Let’s pray: Lord Jesus Christ, so often we are like the younger and the older sons who do not realize that God the Father loves us and how eagerly he wants to bequeath us mercy, prosperity and joy. Heal us from the danger of a superficial faith. May we let our faith penetrate the depths of our hearts, souls and lives now and forever. Amen.
Kredit foto: Ilustrasi (Ist)
