Ex. 32:7-11; Lk. 15:18; 1 Tim. 1:12-17; Lk. 15:1-32
God be merciful to me a sinner! We are a “stiff-necked” people who become “depraved” by our own free will creating our idol worship. Our God of mercy seeks a “heart contrite and humbled” as the acceptable sacrifice for his love. God be merciful as we empty ourselves of our pride and seek your mercy.
What is our “molten calf” we worship above the love of God? One way to answer this question is to recognize what “it” is that we search for in this life. When we are young “it” may be the recognition from others that our name may be raised above every other name but this becomes the desire to be our own God. It is the desire to be first not last, to be served and not to serve. To love God above every other name is true worship to recognize there is a God and we are not it. God be merciful!
When we reach the age of human maturity “it” may be the wealth we search to grow to be free of any dependency on others, but this becomes the desire to be even free from God. Wealth becomes the golden calf creating a false sense of power but the power it offers is transitory and consumes the wealth creating a demand for more wealth. Material wealth is an illusion that there can never be enough wealth to control everything in our lives and the golden calf demands more of us. True maturity is the divine knowledge and wisdom that comes from recognizing even the breath we breathe depends on the God of our creation who pours out his riches and glory for his kingdom of heaven. We don’t wait for his kingdom to come we pray to enter into it in the present moment we live. God be merciful!
If we are blessed to reach the age in the fullness of human longevity “it” may be that we continue to search to escape death itself becoming “stiff-necked” in our demands from others to save us from death rather than seeking the light of God’s divine providence and our salvation from hell. In the midst of good science that extends life and adds to our quality of life there is the golden calf that wants to be preserved, frozen in time and genetically reincarnated. The goal of life is not to extend it perpetually but to complete it fulfilling the purpose for which we came into this world, our God given purpose. As Jesus says on the cross, “It is finished!” God be merciful!
St. Paul places himself as a witness of the mercy of God once a “blasphemer and a persecutor and arrogant” against Jesus has been mercifully treated as he says “because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief”. In this world there are many living in ignorance in their unbelief and the mercy of God will deliver them according to his righteousness, some to heaven, some to purgatory and others to hell. Not all will be saved for he knows the heart of the unbeliever and in what faith they lived. St. Paul’s ignorance was as a non-Christian but we are Christians, either raised in the faith or converted into the faith so what can we say to God? We say, “God be merciful today while there is still time.
When we pray for mercy, we recall the words of Jesus prayer “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us”. God desires mercy and reconciliation ready to forgive as we forgive others. We should not wait until we are on deathbed to call our loved ones and ask for forgiveness for our offenses. The church calls us to come to the sacrament of reconciliation at least once a year but as often as needed when we recognize our sin and desire God’s mercy. What about those we live with, those we work with, those who are part of our social and business world? How many others would be reconciled with us if we reached out to them with an act of mercy? God be merciful as we show mercy.
Jesus reminds us in the parable of the lost sheep of the importance of saving each and every soul with his mercy. Yet there is a truth God gives us “he cannot save us without us”. He cannot save us without our repentance. For the unrepentant sinner, God’s mercy passes over them seeking to find the soul who repents. Confession is not a “get out of jail pass” to keep doing what we want to do. Confession is a realization of our sinfulness with a desire to make amends for our sins and bring conversion to our life. The truth of our confession is in the fruit we bear, the change we make, the mercy we offer. God be merciful.
Then there is the parable of what we traditionally call the “prodigal son”. The word “prodigal” is defined as “spending money or resources freely and recklessly”. It is the younger son who demands a share of the estate with a sense of entitlement saying “give me the share of your estate that should come to me.” There is an expression “prodigal habits die hard”. Prodigal habits become the golden calf we keep feeding on a life of dissipation. This younger son already had the prodigal sin before he demanded more from his father. What the father provided in his home was not enough and so “he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.” God be merciful!
We have an inheritance given to us at baptism with the purpose of multiplying our riches in heaven as servants of the Lord. When we lose focus of this purpose, we risk squandering our inheritance in heaven for the entitlements we demand on earth. Some may question whether the younger son was truly repentant or just realized how much better he would have it if he simply returned to his father seeking reconciliation. Who are we to judge the heart of another when God already knows what he has in his sons and daughters. Let God be God and let us not judge another but examen our own heart and our desire for repentance. God is merciful!
Then we see the older son’s angry reaction to the father’s joy for his younger son. Jealousy is a powerful sin that leads to division. Among family there is a temptation to question who is loved more the “favorite” we call it. Who gets a piece of the pie, the last bite or as the older son said “even a young goat to feast on”. The disciples questioned Jesus, who is the greatest in the kingdom of God. This desire to be first can make even a false martyr of our actions. The father’s response, “we must celebrate and rejoice because your brother was dead and has come to life again…”. God is merciful.
The older son’s complaint to the father “Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your order”. This is a hard lesson for the son to understand, the greatest is the one whose heart is to be the servant of all, to do good for others not for the reward but for the just cause. We are to do it because it is the right thing to do and as the father says, “everything I have is yours”. There is so much God the Father desires for us including all of himself in Jesus and yet we wander in this world in search of something greater and the greater is already a gift waiting for us in God. God is merciful.
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