Cycle C - Year II:

11 September 2016: Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical color: Green)

Gospel: Please read Luke 15:1-32

God is loving and merciful Father!

What are "hugot lines"? From the internet, this popular Tagalog term means.."powerful and dramatic statements from a movie, series, or someone based on real-life experiences, usually about heartbreak in romance."

If we focus just on the key words..."powerful and dramatic statements... based on real-life experiences..." we can also apply "hugot lines" in our Christian living.

One such example of Christian "hugot lines": "We don't always have to understand what's going on with our life. It is better to just enjoy life, trusting always in God's loving care."

For God is trusting and merciful Father, as proclaimed in this Sunday's Scriptures readings.

We will hear three well-know parables from our Lord Jesus Christ: the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, and the parable of the lost son or the prodigal son. All these three parables convey the same message of God as a loving and merciful Father.

Let us reflect on the more popular parable of the three, that of the prodigal son, for inspiration in our Christian living.

The younger son (who asked his father for his part of the inheritance and then foolishly squandered all his share) is a symbol of the person who cuts himself or herself from God through sin. We are shown the unhappy effect of sin by what happened to the younger son in the story. His experience of hunger evokes the anxiety and emptiness a person feels when he or she is far from God. In the end the prodigal son decided to return home and ask his father's forgiveness.

The father does not greet him with reproaches but only with immense compassion. He welcomes his son home and rejoices that the one who was lost has now returned. He has his son back, and that is what matters most. In showing forth such love and mercy, the father restores the dignity and worth of his son. In other words, the father gives the son a new life.

Such is how God deals with us in our own sinfulness. Like the human father in the parable, God is waiting for us with open arms, even when we don'r really deserve it. It doesn't matter how big our sin is, all we need to do is open our heart and return to the Lord. For God always hopes for the return of the sinner, and wants him or her to repent.

In these parables, Jesus teaches that no one is excluded from God's forgiveness and that sinners can become beloved children of God again when we repent and convert.

We return to the Father's love and mercy by means of the Sacrament of Reconciliation in which, by confessing our sins, we put on Jesus Christ again and become His brothers and members of God's family.

But then we may also ask.. what about the attitude of the older son in the parable who was angry that their father welcomes home again his squanderer-brother?

Well, we should likewise consider that if God has compassion towards sinners who repent, He must have more compassion and love towards those who strive to be faithful to Him always. Because God loves each one of us in a special way.

In the Father's house there is no room for jealousy in God's mercy and love. God is faithful and loving Father to those who follow in His way.

In sum, God does not rejoice in the loss of anyone, but desires that all be saved and restored to fellowship with Him. That is why the whole community of heaven rejoices when one sinner is found and restored to fellowship with the Lord.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!