The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today resonate with our sense of connectedness to all Creation, in particular, those who are in need of release from loneliness and brokenness.
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| Love and lost |
In the Letter to the Romans, Paul declares Christ as Lord of living and dead as he exhorts us to live and die for Christ.
* [14:8] The Lord: Jesus, our Master. The same Greek word, kyrios, was applied to both rulers and holders of slaves. Throughout the Letter to the Romans Paul emphasizes God’s total claim on the believer; see note on Rom 1:1.1
Psalm 27 is a triumphant song of confidence.
* [27:13] In the land of the living: or “in the land of life,” an epithet of the Jerusalem Temple (Ps 52:7; 116:9; Is 38:11), where the faithful had access to the life-giving presence of God.2
In the Gospel of Luke Jesus uses the Parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin to emphasize the concern of Jesus and His disciples for the lost.
* [15:1–32] To the parable of the lost sheep (Lk 15:1–7) that Luke shares with Matthew (Mt 18:12–14), Luke adds two parables (the lost coin, Lk 15:8–10; the prodigal son, Lk 15:11–32) from his own special tradition to illustrate Jesus’ particular concern for the lost and God’s love for the repentant sinner.3
Beth Samson loves a good party especially to celebrate the return of the lost.
So, as I read the Gospel today, I can only imagine the joyful party in heaven that happens when we repent. How radical this Love!
We all make decisions that lead to being lost – choices that move us away from God, from Great Love. To think that God would come after us with such vigor – searching for us in the desert and among the cluttered home – is overwhelming. Radical Love that rejoices when we are found.4
Don Schwager quotes “Joy over the fallen sinner restored in God's image,” by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD).
"This second parable compares what was lost to a drachma (Luke 15:8-9). It is as one out of ten, a perfect number and of a sum complete in the accounting. The number ten also is perfect, being the close of the series from the unit upwards. This parable clearly shows that we are in the royal likeness and image, even that of God over all. I suppose the drachma is the denarius on which is stamped the royal likeness. We, who had fallen and had been lost, have been found by Christ and transformed by holiness and righteousness into his image... A search was made for that which had fallen, so the woman lighted a lamp... By the light, what was lost is saved, and there is joy for the powers above. They rejoice even in one sinner that repents, as he who knows all things has taught us. They keep a festival over one who is saved, united with the divine purpose, and never cease to praise the Savior's gentleness. What great joy must fill them when all beneath heaven is saved and Christ calls them by faith to acknowledge the truth? They put off the pollution of sin and freed their necks from the bonds of death. They have escaped from the blame of their wandering and fall! We gain all these things in Christ." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 106)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 15:1-10 comments that Jesus’ mission to reach out to people who are ignored or shunned has continued in the lives of Christians over the centuries. In fact, this sacrificial love for the outcast and the poor became one of the defining characteristics of the early Church. Tertullian (AD 160–225) expressed this pagan observation: “It is mainly the deeds of a love so noble that lead many to put a brand upon us. See, they say, how they love one another. . . . See, they say about us, how they are ready even to die for one another.”
In today’s first reading, St. Paul reminds us that “none of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself” (Romans 14:7). Our call remains the same, whether in the first century or the twenty-first. We were created to reach out to other people. We are fully alive only to the extent that we strive to be men and women for others.6
Friar Jude Winkler emphasizes “who are we to judge?” as he notes that we all do the best we can with what we have. The dual parables of the shepherd who searches and the woman who sweeps show the importance of including women to Luke. Friar Jude addresses the concern that Jesus does not appear to stay with the believers by reminding us that He responds to those who need Him most.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that the physical phenomenon of quantum entanglement is a wonderful illustration of the interconnected nature of reality, both spiritual and material... The Christian tradition clearly points to this entanglement. In his letter to the Romans, Paul writes that “the life and death of each of us has its influence on others” (Romans 14:7, Jerusalem Bible). The Apostles’ Creed affirms our belief in “the communion of saints.” There is apparently a positive inner connectedness that we can draw upon if we wish. It seems to Fr. Richard that quantum entanglement is a foundationally Christian concept, which is now finding voice in modern science.
I like to describe this phenomenon as the experiential “force field” of the Holy Spirit. One stays in this positive force field whenever one loves, cares, is in solidarity with, or serves with positive energy. In Trinitarian theology, the Holy Spirit is foundationally described as the field of love between the Father and the Son. When people stand in this place and rest in love as their home base, they become quite usable by God, and their lives are filled with quantum entanglements that may result in very real healings, forgiveness, answered prayers, and new freedom for those whom they include in the force field with them. (Is that what it means to pray for someone?) Conversely, there are people who carry death wherever they go; they can pull almost anyone into their negative force field. (Is this hell?)7
The connection of our existence to that of Creation through the Holy Spirit, “Field of Love”, is in harmony with Paul’s understanding of the Body of Christ and our mission to bring love to the needy.
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