THE LOVING AND CARING GOD
First Reading: Exodus 32: 7-11 and 13-14
Second Reading: 1 Timothy 1: 12-17
Gospel Reading: Luke 15: 1-10
*First reading is from the book of Exodus. The chosen people of God disobeyed the Lord God and went away from Him. They turned their back on their Lord and Saviour who brought them out of the slavery of Egypt. They went after other gods and worshiped idols made of human hands. Moses pleads with the Lord God for the people who committed sins and became idolaters. The Lord God listens to the plea of Moses and spares them from destruction and punishment.
*Second reading is from the first letter of St. Paul to Timothy. Paul recalls his sinful past and expresses his gratefulness and thanks to God and for the infinite mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ. He admits that Christ came into the world to save sinners. Through his own conversion Paul experiences the love and mercy of God.
The Good Shepherd Today's Gospel reading is from St. Luke. Jesus graphically illustrates for us the love and mercy of God for the least and the lost ones through two parables. The Pharisees complain that Jesus is socializing with the sinners and outcasts of the society. In this context, Jesus narrates two parables: The parable of the Good Shepherd and the parable of the lost coin. In the first parable, Jesus portrays God as a Shepherd who has 100 sheep. When one of them is lost, he leaves the other ninety nine and goes after the lost one. The Shepherd goes after the lost one because of two reasons. First of all, the lost sheep by itself cannot find its way back. Secondly, the Shepherd loves everyone of his sheep and he is in great distress when one of them is lost. Similarly, the heavenly Father, when we His children go astray and get lost, is in great pain. He searches for the lost one till He finds it. The second parable is about the lost coin. A woman has 10 coins in her purse. When one of them is lost, she searches diligently for the lost one till she finds it. The lost coin might have been a part of her ancestral possessions representing the most precious possession and her future security( as suggested by some of the biblical scholars). She relentlessly searches for it until she finds the lost coin. When she finally finds it, she is filled with great joy. Hence no matter how deep we fall or how far we wander from the loving and merciful God, He never gives up on us. He searches for us until He finds us. Every one - the least and the lost - is very very important and precious in the sight of God.
"There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future." - St. Augustine
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