Reflection for the 24th Sunday of Ordinary
Time
September 11, 2016
By Rev. Bob Johnnene OFM
Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus
Order Franciscans of Mercy
Today’s Gospel Reading is
one of my favorites because it clearly states that God is a forgiving and
loving God who will forgive all things if only we honestly seek His forgiveness.
On this Memorial Day
honoring all those who died in the multiple disasters on Sept. 9, 2009
including victim number one, Fr. Mychal Judge OFM who was one of the devout
followers of our Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi we need to seek the strength
to forgive those who perpetrated that disaster and all those that have occurred
all over the globe.
The Gospel Reading from
Luke 15-1-32 coupled with Paul’s letter to Timothy are powerful reminders to us
of God’s infinite mercy and love.
The reading from Luke is
sometimes called The Good Shepherd reading because it tells the story of how a
good shepherd will go seeking one lost sheep.
‘What man among you
with a hundred sheep, losing one, would not leave the ninety-nine in the
wilderness and go after the missing one till he found it? And when he found it,
would he not joyfully take it on his shoulders and then, when he got home, call
together his friends and neighbors? “Rejoice with me,” he would say, “I have
found my sheep that was lost.” In the same way, I tell you, there will be more
rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine virtuous
men who have no need of repentance.
Luke’s Gospel also has the
story of The Prodigal Son who after taking his inheritance went and squandered
it on all the excesses that life had to offer. “A few days later, the
younger son got together everything he had and left for a distant country where
he squandered his money on a life of debauchery.” The story ends with; “While
he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran
to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him tenderly. Then his son said,
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to
be called your son.” But the father said to his servants, “Quick! Bring out the
best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Bring the calf we have been fattening, and kill it; we are going to have a
feast, a celebration, because this son of mine was dead and has come back to
life; he was lost and is found.” And they began to celebrate.”
The other son who was
laboring in the fields for His father came home to find all the celebration
going on and became angry because he had been faithful while the other son did
every terrible thing possible yet was being treated like a prince. When the who
had remained faithful confronted his father he was told the following; “The
father said, “My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours. But it
was only right we should celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here was
dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found.”
These two stories clearly
tell us how God will react when we seek Him out to ask forgiveness for any
wrongs we may have done and desire to claim our rightful place within the
Mystical Body of Christ, The Universal Church, which includes all denominations
that trace their roots back to The Apostles.
Paul’s letter to Timothy
reinforces this teaching when he tells Timothy; “I thank Christ Jesus our
Lord, who has given me strength, and who judged me faithful enough to call me
into his service even though I used to be a blasphemer and did all I could to
injure and discredit the faith. Mercy, however, was shown me, because until I
became a believer I had been acting in ignorance; and the grace of our Lord
filled me with faith and with the love that is in Christ Jesus. Here is a
saying that you can rely on and nobody should doubt: that Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners. I myself am the greatest of them; and if mercy
has been shown to me, it is because Jesus Christ meant to make me the greatest
evidence of his inexhaustible patience for all the other people who would later
have to trust in him to come to eternal life”
Our God is not a God of
Vengeance but a God of infinite LOVE. God does not want us going about
spreading hatred and violence but wants us to do what Christ called the two
greatest commandments.
“Hear, O Israel, the
Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The
second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment
greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-30)
As followers of Christ and
believers in One God, the same God of Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Jacob and
Mohammad, we need to work for peace and harmony and not promote hatred and
violence as one so called Christian pastor has suggested or exclude people from
entering this country based on their Religious belief.
Those terrorist who have
been perpetrating all the mass killings of 9/11/2009, in France, Germany, and
all over the world are NOT FOLLOWERS of any recognized religion, especially the
Muslim or Islamic religion.
If we go down that road
soon we will start banning people who are Jewish or even Christian because we
don’t agree with the teaching of the religion.
Those who perpetrated the 9/11
mass killings and those people in Orlando or the airport in Turkey do not
follow the teachings of Mohammad, in fact they are acting in a manner that is
totally opposite to the teachings found in the Koran .
The kind of actions that that
pastor or some political candidates are advocating are tools Satan uses to
divide people who believe in God and cause them to do evil hoping that they
will not seek God’s forgiveness but will come over to the dark side.
As people who claim to
love God and believe in the teaching of Christ we must stand up against this
kind of activity that can only cause hatred, division and further violence but
we need to reach out to our Muslim brothers and Sisters to find a way for all
faiths, nationalities and ethnicities to live in harmony and peace.
If we find ways to bring
this about we would be acting as God wants us too and which could very well
lead to a time of Peace, Justice, compassion and love consistent with God’s
will. AMEN
