There are two things that are truly awesome about the first reading for mass today. First, that Moses cared enough about his people to actually argue with the creator of the universe. That was quite a discussion. Who would actually have enough nerve to argue with God Himself? But, Moses did. It sounds like he had such a close relationship with God that He was like a best friend or a member of his family. I’m sure most of us don’t feel comfortable enough in our relationship with God, to get into an argument with Him though.
The second thing that is awesome about the first reading for mass today, is that it tells us a lot about God’s nature. First of all, that He gets angry just like we do. God has the same feelings that we have, so He can surely relate to the many different feelings we have at times too. Another thing that was awesome in this reading, is that God changed His mind. He blew up, got angry, and threatened some sort of disaster upon the Israelite people, but then He actually listened to Moses and changed His mind. God has an open mind and an open heart and that is more than we can say about our own selves sometimes. If God Himself can change His mind about something He had His heart set on doing, we should be able to try and keep an open mind when there is something we are stubbornly insisting on as well.
The Israelite people deserved to be punished by God. It would have been justified, since they abandoned Him for another lesser “god” of their own making. The psalm for today vocalizes this sentiment exactly, when it says “Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgement.”
Saint Paul goes on to explain that he sinned against Jesus Christ in the worst way, and yet the grace of the Lord overflowed for him. In his great mercy, Christ caused him to see the error of his ways. Paul felt that Christ had shown him the upmost patience and mercy, so that he might become an example for all those who would later come to believe in him. And, this is still true for all of us today. Jesus founded his church on Saint Peter and Saint Paul, who were both sinners. One sinned a little and the other sinned a lot and it didn’t matter, Christ used them both to found his church. That is something we should remember about one another as well.
What is really neat about the gospel today is that Jesus tells three different parables, that seem to be specific to certain groups of people. In the first parable about the lost sheep that the shepherd goes off to find … many of the men of that day and age could relate to this parable because they took care of the animals. Then the parable about the lost coin, where the woman turns on the light and sweeps the whole house looking for it … well this seems to be applicable to the women in the crowd because of the daily housework they usually did.
The third parable Jesus tells us in the gospel is about the prodigal son. Christ just told a parable geared toward men, another toward women and now another that seems to be focused on a wayward youth. This is the nucleus of the human family. The three parables fit together in such a way that all families can relate to it, even single people. It’s pretty awesome the way Christ thinks, but even more so, how he feels. Joy is the overriding emotion of all three parables. Relief, compassion and joy that flows from a deep an abiding love for the person who has returned to them. This love flows from Jesus for all of us, even after we have made some very serious mistakes in our lives. And this is the love that should flow from us too, when someone we love turns from a bad choice they’ve made and returns to the gospel values they once knew. All mothers and fathers of wayward adult children can receive comfort from this parable in the gospel today.
The last thing that is pretty awesome about the parable of the prodigal son, is that it is more complex than it first seems. At different stages in our lives, we could be the prodigal son, or his jealous brother, or the compassionate father. One thing that does come across most profoundly, most beautifully, is that God our Father waits for us even when we are far from Him. We are sometimes far from God because of our sins, like the Israelite people were in the first reading for mass today who were busy chasing after lesser “gods”, or the prodigal son was when he was busy chasing after lesser “gods” too. These shallow things are like fools gold that glitters but isn’t real. Love is the only thing that is real. God is love. If we can’t feel God’s love in our lives, it might be because we have simply been too far away from Him. He never went anywhere. We are the ones who leave. Prayer, confession, communion is the way back. Things can be set right again, whether it is for ourselves, or for someone that we love. No situation is ever so hopeless that Jesus can not heal it. Nothing is etched in stone. A change for the better is possible. We need only make the first move, and God will take us the rest of the way.
