09-15-2019 Luke Chapter 15: 1-10 | Fr. Randall

In our gospel this morning Luke continues to give us ear to Jesus’ teachings. It is again people of low esteem who come near to listen; the tax collectors and sinners. Pharisees and the scribes who held respected and honored positions because of their authority were grumbling about this. “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
The two parables that follow teach us much about God. These parables are used in our children’s ministry through their work in the Catechesis of The Good Shepherd. You may wonder what the word “catechesis” means and how these parables impact us today. Very simply, these parables are used for our instruction and teaching of faith and trust found and discovered in Jesus’ love for all people.
I wonder, as our children are invited to wonder; what must it be like to be lost and then be found?
How many sheep are lost before the shepherd goes to search for them? What does he do when even just one sheep is found? I wonder, what does it mean that the shepherd rejoices? What does the shepherd ask his friends and neighbors to do with him? I wonder, what does the woman do when she loses just one of her ten coins? What does she say to her friends and neighbors when she has found it? Why do you think there is so much joy when even just one sheep and one coin is searched and searched for and then found?
I wonder, why am I so willing to be there with the tax collectors and sinners? For the same reason I am willing to be outside the narrow door, to be with those who have not yet found the latch that opens to God’s new creation of heaven and earth!