Sunday Readings for September 15th, 2019.

I want to direct a short film which depicts the 3 lost parables of Luke 15 (spoiler alert, this is the gospel for this coming Sunday.) 

The reason I want to artistically represent these parables is because I think most people’s reaction to hearing them is fake, lame, and personally dishonest. It’s not our fault really. We’ve heard these parables so many times that I think we tend to ignore their je ne sais quoi. I think we easily dismiss them as a lesson in acceptance and general nice-ness.

When it comes down to it I want to show the part of the story that Luke leaves out – namely, the honest and real reactions of everyone listening to Jesus. 

When Jesus says, “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it?” and then have one of the Pharisees say, “Hey Jesus. No one. Not a single one of us would do that. That is stupid. That man is a bad shepherd. Why are his sheep in a desert anyway?” 

Then when Jesus describes the woman who loses a coin and throws a party to celebrate the finding of said coin, I want catch on film, the emphatically confused and questioning glances shared between Scribes (and maybe between the disciples too). Why waste more money than the coin is worth celebrating finding it? Please someone with a finance background talk to this woman about retirement planning. 

Then when Jesus really goes for it and tells his audience about the dignified Jewish man who gives away his inheritance and then runs (like a common slave) to meet his now gentile son (you know – the one who not only wasted his financial inheritance, but also his very identity as a Jew), I want to see half the audience roll on the ground laughing at the wildly unlikely story while the other half shout with great support for the righteous older son. 

God’s mercy is crazy. It doesn’t make sense. We don’t deserve it. But he offers it to us. God gives it freely because we don’t deserve it. The moment we think we don’t need God’s mercy is likely the moment right before we do something that proves our need for mercy.

I need mercy and need it badly. I need mercy to be excessive and irrational and free. I don’t just want God’s mercy and love – I need it. Without it, sharing a trough with a sounder of swine would be a dream. 

Do you need God’s mercy? Why? How do you know?

LIVE IT: Go to Confession. There is no greater moment of mercy than a full, rich, specific, honest, life giving Confession and the absolving of sins. Even if you’re not sure you have any mortal sins on your heart, go and receive the grace given in the sacrament.