HOMILY FOR THE 24TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR C.

Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14; Psalm 50:3-4.12-13, 17,19; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-32.

“THE PRODIGAL FATHER!”

By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide.

·      Today’s gospel reading provides us with a familiar and popular story which many of us have variously captioned ranging from “the parable of the prodigal son”, “the parable of the senseless sinner”, “the parable of the reckless sinner”, some even caption it as “the parable of the jealous brother”.

·      Reflecting on the readings and the personalities involved, I wonder why we are quick to celebrate weakness and not strength, to celebrate defeat and not triumph, to celebrate sin and not mercy. We are quick to make the sinful son the hero of the parable probably because his story tells our story, his situation, our situation.

·      Today’s gospel is about the prodigality of a loving father who goes about in search of us until we are found. If we think we are prodigal in sin, God our father is more prodigal in his love. Sin separates us from the love of God while grace brings us closer to God.

·      At every instance of sin and loss of grace, God himself as a loving father searches us out until we are brought back to the fold. The story of the gospel reading is a story of a lavished love, a love that is boundless and abundant. Where sin is reckless, God’s love is prodigal!

·      The prodigal love of God is represented in the episodes of seeking and finding. When we are in sin, we run away from the warm embrace of God, we are lost, but through the grace of God and the voice of conscience, we are found. He gives us abundant opportunities to be saved. He searches even more than three times for us till we are found. His patience is unrivalled, his love unquantifiable, and can only come from a prodigal father!

·      On our previous Sundays, the Gospel readings were telling us about what we should do to attain salvation: strive to enter through the narrow door; be always humble; make God the priority in life; carry your cross and renounce all your possessions. These are all on the part of man. But given our limitations and weakness, can we do all these successfully? So, this Sunday, Jesus gives us the other and the most important part, namely, the part of God. Salvation is mainly the work of God, and our part is just to cooperate with His grace. To illustrate this, Jesus tells the three “Lost and Found” parables.

·      The shepherd noticed one sheep was missing. So, he left the ninety-nine and looked for the lost sheep. When he found it, he put it on his shoulder and announces with great joy the good news. A woman had to clean up her entire house in search of one lost coin. When she found it, she invited her neighbours to celebrate with her. A son left the house and was lost in the midst of worldly pleasure and excess. But his father did not give up on him. Every day, he searched the horizon, looking for signs of the coming of his son. And when from afar he saw him coming home, he ran to meet him and kissed him.

·      In a courtroom, the judge was upset to see the same young man in front of him. “You again?” exclaimed the judge. “The last time you were here, I specifically told you that I did not want to see you here again!” The young man replied, “Yes, your Honor! That is precisely what I told these cops, but they just would not believe me.”

·      When someone offends us, we would invariably say, “Get out of my sight! I don’t want to see you again. Get lost!” How different God is from us. He does not want anyone of us to be lost. So, He looks for us patiently and unceasingly until He finds us. This is the main theme of the three “Lost and Found” parables. Unfortunately, we keep running away from Him, we keep hiding from His sight.

·      When we were little children, we always ask our parents, “Can I go with you?” As we grew older, it is our parents who ask us, “Will you come with me?” Then during our teenage years and into college, as we enjoy our freedom in the company of our friends, we begin to ignore the invitations of our parents. And when we got our own job and place to stay, and especially when we already have a family of our own, we have declared our total independence from our parents, and many of us have practically lost contact with them. We call on them very occasionally, and usually only when we need something from them. This is what happens in our relationship with God. As we began to develop our own resources and capacities, we also started to have a sense of self-sufficiency. And as we insist on our freedom and independence, we consciously ignore God and relegate Him to the sidelines. We eventually assume a utilitarian attitude towards God – we call on Him only when we need Him. But most of the time, we are self-sufficient and do not need God.

·      The devil can deceive us even in our spiritual life. All the while we think we are leading good and holy lives, only to find out that spiritual pride has gripped our hearts. One common example of this is what we often hear in the personal testimonies of many in the Catholic Renewal Movements: “I am very thankful that now I have found God”, or “Ever since I found God, my life is not the same again.” These statements are presumptuous and ridiculous, tantamount to the idea of a mouse seeking and running after the cat, or to a cart placed before the horse. The fact is that we do not find God; He finds us! We do not choose Him; He chose us. We do not run to Him; He runs to meet us, and most often, He runs after us. This is what the three “Lost and Found Parables” have abundantly illustrated. God always takes the initiative. Our part is just to say yes to Him, cooperate with His grace, and open our hearts to Him. That is why, in prayer, it is God who should do most of the talking, while we do most of the listening.

·      Let these words from Saint Augustine become our own: “O Lord, you were within me, but I was outside. You were with me, but I was not with you. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in a breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more.”

·      The second reading (1 Timothy 1:12-17), assures us that we may be wallowing in sin, but God does not completely give up on us. His grace and mercy will continue to envelop us, but we must not continue to take God’s patience and mercy for granted because today is the appointed time for our repentance.

·      Like the psalmist, we must all leave the seeming comfort of sin and recklessness and break loss and declare “I shall leave this place and return to my father”.

·      May the Lord grant us the grace to realise the damaging and distracting effect of sin and to renounce it by word and deed and to enter into the eternal and prodigal love of the father now and always through Christ our Lord, Amen!

·      Happy Sunday!!!