Thursday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
My 4 year old son, Owen is currently taking swim lessons - big kid swim lessons! These lessons are his first time being in the water without mommy or daddy. There are 5 kids and one big, giant teddy bear of a man, Mr. Tim. Owen is petrified of being in the water without my husband or I, but we have assured him that Mr. Tim's job is to watch over him and keep him safe. I have loved watching the way Mr. Tim works with these kids - he is constantly keeping an eye on all 5 of them, reassuring them and challenging them, while still managing to make each one feel safe and protected. When one went in over her head, he was there in a heartbeat to pull her out.
And I think this is how God is with us. God is constantly looking out for us, watching over us and helping to keep us afloat, even when we don't think He is. When we get in over our heads, all we need to do is reach out for God, return to Him and He will be there, to pull us up.
When we ask Owen why he is so scared he says, "I'm scared I will fall in and no one will save me." I think sometimes we start to feel this way too - that I have sinned so badly, there is nothing that can be done. No one will want me. No one can save me. When we start to live our lives and make choices, some of which take us further and further away from God and into the deep end, we start to think that there is no way out, no one to pull us out of our own mess. We start to be paralyzed by the fear that God will not want us or forgive us because of what we have done.
But in today's Gospel Christ assures us this is not the case. Not only will God be there to pull us out and bring us to safety, God will be rejoicing that we have returned to Him and repented. God will rejoice for each one who returns to him, for each sinner who repents. Just as a shepherd rejoices when the lost sheep is found so too will God rejoice when we return to Him. May we not be paralyzed by the fear that "no one will save me," but rather may we rest assured that when we reach out and ask for help and forgiveness God will be there. God is always there. Not only will God be there, but He will be waiting to celebrate our return! Amen.
Amanda Grimm