Thursday of 31st Week, Year II: reflection

Theme: For the sake of Christ, never give up on anyone.

Reading: Lk 15:1–10

Jesus told the Pharisees, who accused Him of hanging around with tax collectors and sinners, two parables in today’s gospel reading: the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin. There is an important message that begs our attention in these two parables.

While we, like the Pharisees, often see ‘known’ sinners as people who should be avoided, punished, banished from society, given a back seat in the Church, or even eliminated, Jesus sees them as people who need earnest help from all of us.

Although we might consider additional efforts to assist our morally weak brothers and sisters as needless and a waste of time and other resources because they failed to take advantage of all previous opportunities to rescue them from their world of sin, Jesus sees them as people we should never give up on; He sees them as a work in progress. Jesus wants us to keep searching for these our brothers and sisters with all of our resources until the end of time, just like the shepherd and the coin owner did in today’s gospel.

Jesus’ view of sinners encourages us to change or modify our own in order to help our brothers and sisters who are not at their best and those who have totally missed the road to come back to the sheepfold of Christ, where there is an abundance of grace and fullness of life. As long as they are still breathing, we should keep giving them a helping hand rather than dismissing them.

May you have a blessed Thursday. Amen

Fr. Isaac Chima