FROM THE PULPIT TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR C SCRIPTURE: Exodus 32: 7-11, 13-14; Psalm 51; 1Timothy 1: 12-17; Luke 15: 1-32 REFLECTION: God’s merciful Love and the power of intercession Fr. Benoit Mukamba, CSSp.
The readings of the Scripture which we have heard today present us five stories: · The sin of the Israelites and Moses’ mediation (Intercessory prayer). · Saint Paul’s Gratitude to God’s merciful love. · The parable of the recovered (Lost)sheep. · The parable of the Found (Lost) coin. · And the parable of the Prodigal (Found) Son. All these five stories teach us about the merciful heart of God towards sinners. Each story deals with divine mercy in its own ways bringing to the forefront some dimensions of the action of God’s loving mercy. Together these stories show us that our God is a God of love. Indeed the Evangelist John declares God as Love. He wants to share his eternal life with us all. He rejoices in the repentance of one single sinner. There is greater rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety nine righteous persons who have no need of repentance; we just heard. Moses interceded for the Israelites to be forgiven. At the mediation of Moses, God listened to Moses and forgave the idolatrous Israel who had forgotten God’s act of salvation and His presence amongst them. To perfect His salvific action, God planned the intervention of His Son into our world. In becoming man, Jesus united divinity and humanity together; He made humans become children of God. Mankind was raised to brotherhood with Jesus, Son of God and therefore sonship with God and inheritance of heaven. God wants us all enter heaven. He doesn’t want to lose any one of us. Therefore, God rescued Saul (Paul) from perdition in his pride of being a Jew and a Pharisee. Paul expresses his gratitude to God for saving him. Paul’s example should assist Timothy in his life and ministry. So it should help us to remember God’s kindness towards us sinners and lead us to gratitude to God. Tax-collectors and sinners were all drawn to Jesus because God’s merciful love was attracting them to the Son of God and the perfect mediator between God and humans. Jesus was very happy with them because they wanted to discover the fullness of God’s steadfast love towards sinners. To us too, Jesus left us the sacrament of Reconciliation that contains all the means of freeing the sinner from the sin. He also left us the Eucharist that heals us and fills us the grace of God that empowers us to live in holiness. It is up to us to make use of these tools from heaven. Let us not be a stiff-necked people like Israelites but we should be as grateful as Paul to God’s love that seeks sinners. Just like Moses prayed for the Israelites, we too, are invited and urged to make prayers for intercession for all people and especially for those in authority. We need to intercede for our brothers and sisters whose sins are known to us. The prayer of intercession finds its power in charity. When we pray for the other for the good of that other person, we do it with and out of charity. Our prayer of intercession must appeal to God’s own merits. Such a prayer becomes pure and efficacious.