Amazing Discovery (Thursday, Week 31, Year 2)

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The first reading (cf. Phil. 3:3-8a), the response to the psalm (cf. Psa. 105:3b) and the gospel episode (cf. Luke 15:1-10) reflect a normal feeling in all of us: the amazing feeling of joy due to some discovery. It is natural to be apprehensive, anxious, restless, and all together gloomy when we lose an item so precious to us, no matter how insignificant it may be. I can’t remember the number of times I suspended other things I had to do because I was in search of a missing item. Sometimes, when I was about to go out and couldn’t find my key, I was forced to suspend my movement until I found it. It is not because I will be prone to being robbed if I don’t lock up my doors but because of some instinctual feeling of anxiety and restlessness whenever I misplace any item. 

Such might have been the feeling of the shepherd or the woman who went after the lost sheep and the lost coin respectively not even minding the ninety-nine that were left behind. The joy that followed suit was so immense when those lost items were found. Jesus was using these analogies to communicate to the Pharisees and to us that it is not just the sinner that seeks to reunite with God, it is God himself who actually searches for the sinner. Just like the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15, it was the father who was actively waiting, longing for, and so much disturbed about the son. And there is always an indescribable feeling of joy in heaven over one sinner who returns. This will help understand more and more the enormity of love that God has for each and every one of us. This is an amazing discovery which should rekindle the flame of joy and zeal in us just like it did in St Paul.

In the first reading (Phil. 3:3-8a), Paul considered himself lost when he was in the flesh, living the life of the flesh. He considered everything as rubbish when he was hooked to the law. But when he found Jesus, it was all joy; it was all gain and celebration. He discovered an amazing love, the love of God beyond all telling, despite his grave wanderings in the past. Such a discovery should rekindle our spirit and reactivate our zeal to humbly approach God Our Father who searches for us when we are lost in sin. Such knowledge should help us reciprocate the love of God for us which can never be quantified.      



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