Homily Thirty-First Thursday of Ordinary Time (Lk. 15:1-10) “Can I Escape the Lord’s Reach?”
Homily Thirty-First Thursday of Ordinary Time (Lk. 15:1-10) “Can I Escape the Lord’s Reach?”
One of the windows in Sacred Heart Church is a depiction of the Good Shepherd. It is on the West side where there are about six parables of Jesus that are portrayed. This is the window our religious education students sponsored when we restored the stained glass. We see in that window Jesus depicted as we usually visualize him as the Good Shepherd.
The earliest pictures of Jesus did not show him as we often see him, however. He was not a bearded young man, but he was shown in the catacombs and in several ancient churches as a shepherd boy with a lamb draped around his neck. Obviously, this image meant a lot to members of the early church.
What is it that made Christianity so different from other religions? One thing was there was an emphasis on redemption. A person was never beyond help. Forgiveness was always possible if the sinner would just request it.
Jesus had a habit of saying to people when he healed them physically, that their sins were forgiven. He knew that being wounded spiritually was just as debilitating as any physical ailment. He picked out sinners to be his apostles. Peter says to Jesus when he first meets him, “Leave me Lord for I am a sinful man” (Lk 5:8). Matthew was a tax collector which made him the prototype of a sinner. Jesus chose him as an Apostle anyway.
All this is reassuring to us. We all are sinners. But we can always start over. If we wander away from the Lord, he tries to find us like the lost sheep. He wants to bring us back to the flock. The question is whether we will let ourselves be caught or if we will keep running.
Reflection Questions:
- Am I spiritually lost? What can I do so I can feel reconciled with God?
- How does it make me feel to know that I am never beyond the reach of the Lord’s mercy? Does that make me love God more?
Dear Parishioners,
The Diocese of Peoria has decided to tighten up on some of the COVID protocols because of the recent upsurge in cases and new restrictions from the governor’s office. We are not to have meetings larger than 25% capacity of the room in use with a maximum of 25 people.
Someone might ask, “What about Mass?” Mass attendance is not held to the same standard since it relates to a religious service. The church needs to be kept at 25% capacity. We already doing this on Sunday.
The Sheen Center in Peoria (the headquarters for our diocese) has canceled all meetings for the foreseeable future, although the offices will be open for business. This means things like diaconal training will be going online.
All Catholic Schools will be going virtual for two weeks after Christmas. We have had few incidents with COVID at Seton School, but there is a worry that the holidays will bring an uptick in COVID cases.
Let’s continue to pray for the health of everyone, physically, mentally and spiritually. We are going to have some difficult days.
May Our Lady and All the Angels and Saints pray for us.
Fr. Mark