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Thomas J. Gumbleton Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit, Michigan * This week's readings ** Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, "Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, 'This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!'" The Lord said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation." Then Moses entreated the Lord his God, and said, "O Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?" "Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'" So the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people. 1 Timothy 1:12-17 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. Luke 15:1-32 or Luke 15:1-10 Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them." So He told them this parable, saying, "What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!' I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance." "Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!' In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." And He said, "A man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.' So he divided his wealth between them. And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. But when he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men."' "So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.' And they began to celebrate. Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.' But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. But he answered and said to his father, 'Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.' And he said to him, 'Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.'" Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them." So He told them this parable, saying, "What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!' I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance." "Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!' In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." * A longtime national and international activist in the peace movement, Bishop Gumbleton is a founding member of Pax Christi USA and an outspoken critic of the sanctions against Iraq. He has appeared on numerous radio and television programs, and has published numerous articles and reports. * Scripture texts in this work are in modified form from the American Standard Version of the Bible and are available as part of the public domain. For your convenience, the Scripture texts, as they appear in the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 1998, 1997, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C., may be found at the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCC). http://www.usccb.org/nab/ ** The Web link to Pax Christi is provided as a service to our readers.

In the scriptures, in St. Luke's Gospel especially, Jesus is pictured very often as celebrating at a meal. Scripture scholars and commentators tell us that these stories anticipate the Eucharist, our celebration today around this table -- Jesus left this seat for us. Remembering that, it occurs to me almost immediately how contemporary this story is. This incident in the gospel starts with those religious leaders -- the Pharisees, the scribes, those supposedly learned in the law -- complaining about Jesus. "He eats with sinners! He welcomes them."

Doesn't that remind you of people saying, "Don't let certain people come to the Eucharist. Turn them away." Could you imagine, if you listen to this Gospel, Jesus turning anyone away at the Eucharist? That's impossible for Jesus. He welcomes sinners. He welcomes all of us. He welcomes everyone. We must always keep in mind the way Jesus welcomes even sinners. In fact, I should not say "even" as though there are only some sinners. All of us are sinners. Jesus welcomes all of us to this feast.

But there is more to this Gospel. In today's scripture lessons, God is really trying to help us understand who God is. Who is God? I'm sure we would readily answer that question with words similar to those in the first letter of John. "God is love, and where there is love there is God." Yes, God is love. But I think for many of us, those are just words. The lessons today are trying to make those words concrete for us. God is truly love and only love.

The first lesson is an incomplete revelation in a way, because Moses is described as having to beg God to forgive these terrible sinners who had been unfaithful and began to worship an idol. Moses is described as pleading with God and even saying to God, "Look, what will the Egyptians think if you led those people into freedom and now you abandon them? You're gonna be laughed at by the Egyptians." Well, this is not really how it all happened, but, it shows us how Moses, and those who were trying to understand God, understood God at that time. You beg God and God forgives you.

Jesus takes it way beyond that. In the parables he tells us today, he shows us that it is God who takes the initiative. It is God who reaches out, because God loves us at every instant and there is no calculation to it. In fact, most people would say those parables don't make any sense. They're not logical. Would a shepherd really leave 99 sheep in the dangers of the desert to go and search for one? That is not logical, is it? Most people would say, we've got to cut our losses and save the 99. Not God. There is no limit to God's love. It is illogical, if you want to put it that way. There is no calculation to it. It is total love.

The parable about the coin and especially the one about the two sons are the same. There's so much we can learn from these parables if we take the time to quietly pray over them and reflect. Clearly, it is God who takes the initiative. It is God who watches for that young man and runs out to greet him. God's love is always reaching out to us. God is totally love.

Jesus uses these parables, which seem in some ways extreme, to show us how God is love. Of course, Jesus backs up his words with the way he lived and died. He lived always reaching out to people, always ready to forgive and always ready to welcome. He died loving and forgiving those who put him to death. "Greater love than this no one has than to lay down your life for another." Jesus did that for us. There is no greater love.

Jesus' love gathers us around this table today to repeat in some way that gift of his total love for us. That is the first thing that we really need to try to draw from today's scriptures: God is love. Total love. If we have experienced love in any degree, in any way in our lives, we can perhaps, begin to reflect on what it means if we could love totally, always and without limit and if people loved us the same way.

These lessons also remind us of how we are to respond to God. I'll bet that most of us, when we hear that parable about the two sons have some sense of sharing in the anger of the elder son. It does seem really unfair, doesn't it? The younger son takes half the inheritance, half of what belongs to the older son, and he goes out and wastes it all. Then he comes back, and he is overwhelmed with love from the father. The older son, meanwhile, never had a party given for him, he says. Notice his words when he rebukes his father: "I slaved for you all the time."

His relationship with his father -- and perhaps our relationship with God -- is wrong. He thinks that if he works hard enough, he will merit something. I think this same attitude is engrained in our culture. You are to work hard and then you get what you work for. You get what you deserve. Often it does not really work that way, but we think it will. We approach our relationship with God the same way. We sometimes think that we will earn God's love if we work hard enough if we are good enough. Do you see, though, how that is like becoming a slave? That is not the way God wants us to relate to God.

Just as God loves us without calculation and limits, we must try to love God the same way. Not measuring what we do, how well we function and according to the commandments, but simply try to love God. Jesus makes clear: Very often we love God by loving one another, loving our neighbor. We have to make sure that the way we try to respond to this God who is unlimited love is by responding out of love only. Not out of obligation. Not because we think we will earn something, but simply because God loves us and we love God.

It is a total gift of oneself to God. That's what you have to try to do.

The lesson here also is that the only way we are going to become everything God wills us to be, full human persons capable of love, is by always reaching out in love to other people and never allowing ourselves to be vengeful or hateful. God is love, and God makes us in God's image, so we not only have to love God but also love others as well as remove any spirit of vengeance, hatred or retaliation from our hearts. This is true for our relationships with one another and also with the world in which we live.

When we hate or if we learn to kill as young people are taught to kill by going to war, we are destroying something within ourselves. We can't let that happen. That is why we must say no to war. As Pope John Paul has urged us, "Say no to war." War throws into upheaval the lives of those who do the killing. If we learn to hate, to kill and to take vengeance, to retaliate, to get even, we are destroying the very image of God within us, and that is the worst tragedy.

Finally, as we reflect on these lessons today, we learn how God is love and we must respond only in love to God and then respond in the same way to one another. Learning this lesson can help prepare us for that moment when we will face God, after death.

A month or so ago, I told you about a book I was reading called Father Joe. The book has become somewhat popular. It is the story of a Benedictine monk who lived in England. He was in the monetary for more than 60 years and created a ministry of reaching out in love to people. He counseled many, many people as a confessor and as a teacher. One of the people he counseled was the book's author, Tony Hendra. Hendra had squandered much of his wealth in life, a life of foolish sinfulness, but he always went back to Father Joe. They had a lifelong relationship. The last time Tony saw Father Joe, the old monk was dying. Tony asked him:

"Aren't you afraid? Maybe there's nothing when you die?"
And Father Joe said, "No, that doesn't worry me." He said, "I am a little frightened, perhaps. We always are, aren't we when we have to open a door that's always been there but we've never opened. I mean frightened by the immensity of what lies beyond that door."

I am sure he was thinking about a God of love who lies beyond that door. Infinite. Eternal. Unlimited. How could we be worthy of that? We are nothing, are we, compared to the perfection of what comes next? Death makes failures of us all when we realize how small we are before the immensity of God's love. Going through the door of death, we move into God's immense love. It is beyond our understanding, beyond our expectations. But that is who God is. God is love. When we go through that door, we enter into the fullness of love and life forever.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.