Thursday of the Thirty-First Week in Ordinary Time
Have you ever thought about how much of our time spent with the people in our lives is centered around a meal? Daily or weekly meals with family, lunches with coworkers and friends, holiday meals with loved ones. A shared meal is an important part of dating, fostering close friendships, bonding with our families, and celebrating special occasions. Food nurtures us and sharing food nurtures our relationships.
Sharing a meal was an important part of hospitality in Jesus’ time, as it continues to be today. So it is not insignificant when the Pharisees and scribes in today’s gospel (Luke 15:1-10) complain about Jesus eating with sinners; “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” He was not only welcoming them, he was sharing a meal with them - getting to know them and growing closer in relationship with them.
Interestingly, Luke tells us that the tax collectors and sinners were all “drawing near to listen to Jesus,” while the Pharisees and scribes, on the other hand, were passing judgment. So Jesus preached the parable of the lost sheep and the parable of the lost coin. Jesus tells them that there will be “more joy in heaven” and “rejoicing among the angels of God” over one sinner who repents.
How blessed we are that our God is a loving and merciful God who wants a close relationship with us! Even when we have strayed away and become lost. What a comfort to know that God will keep seeking us and will not give up until we are found.
So who are we to pass judgment on others? As Paul asks in his letter to the Romans (Romans 14: 7-12), “Why then do you judge your brother or sister? Or you, why do you look down on your brother or sister? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God.” Jesus welcomed sinners and ate with them. Who am I like in today’s gospel? Am I drawing near to listen to Jesus like the sinners? Or passing my own judgment like the scribes and Pharisees?
Of course we are all sinners, but when I think of the gospel and how Jesus would welcome sinners and share a meal with them today, prison ministry comes to mind. Those in prison are sinners who are judged severely in our country, even to the point of death. As followers of Jesus, are we judging them too or respecting their lives and welcoming them as in some of the important prison ministry being carried out? “For there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.” How can I be more like Jesus today? How about help minister to those in prison, support the ministries financially, bake cookies for the Kairos ministry retreats, pray for those in prison and those ministering to them, work for an end to capital punishment, and teach your children and grandchildren about Jesus’ love for sinners.
Let us live for the Lord, as Paul wrote to the Romans, “For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” Amen.
- Eileen Miller