Fr. Roger J. Landry

Conversations with Consequences Podcast

Homily for the Twenty-Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time, C, Vigil

September 10, 2022

 

To listen to an audio recording of this short Sunday homily, please click below: 

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/catholicpreaching/9.10.22_Landry_ConCon_1.mp3

 

The following text guided the homily: 

* This is Fr. Roger Landry and it’s a joy for me to be with you as we enter into the consequential conversation the Risen Lord Jesus wants to have with each of us this Sunday, which will bring us into the heart of Jesus’ mission, the core of our faith, the way we’re supposed to receive God’s action in our life and what he wants us to do as a result. It involves three parables of the Lord, including, perhaps, the most famous short story of all time.

* Luke gives the setting: “Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’” The Pharisees were literally, in Hebrew, the “Separated Ones,” those who distanced themselves from sin and sinners. They were scandalized that Jesus would have any contact with sinners at all, not to mention welcome them, treat them with kindness and even share meals and fraternity with them. They failed to recognize that they were sinners. It was to them and their attitude about sin and sinners that Jesus addressed the three Parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin and the Lost Sons.

* The attitude of the Scribes and Pharisees didn’t expire at a time long ago in a land far away. Many Christians today, for example, do not rejoice on Christmas, Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday and Easter when people who do not regularly practice the faith come to back to Church, crowd the parking lot and occupy the pews they normally sit in. Many do not rejoice to see the person who bullied them in school, local criminals, the person who destroyed their best friend’s marriage, or family members who gossiped about them come to Church converted. Jesus’ stories this Sunday are still so relevant because many of us are more like the Pharisees in the Gospel than we might want to admit.

* In the Parable of the Lost Sheep, we see how God loves us individually. Jesus the Good Shepherd calls each one of us by name, and none of us is a number to him. It might seem strange that a shepherd would leave 99 sheep and go out in search of one lost stray, because most of us don’t have that type of love for animals in general, especially if we have 100 of them or more. But Jesus was saying, “If you had ten young kids, and one of the didn’t come home, wouldn’t you leave the other nine to go out in search of your child?” Jesus loves each of us more than the greatest earthly moms and dads loves each of their children. He will come to find us. And he will rejoice when he finds us and leads us home.

* The Parable of the Lost Coin, at first glance, makes even less sense than that of the lost sheep. What woman who lost a quarter would spend all types of time sweeping the house looking for it, and then throw a big party upon finding it? But we need to know what the coin was. When a woman was married, she had a wedding veil, normally with ten precious coins strung like a crown that constituted her dowry. Not only were the coins precious but their symbolic value was priceless. The present-day analogy would be if a woman had lost her wedding ring. She indeed would pick up the sofa cushions, look under the couch, sweep everywhere frantically looking for it, and, if she found it, would certainly rejoice.

* Both parables led to a similar application by Jesus: “In just the same way,” he said, “there will be more joy in heaven,