Reality Of Parables

𝐍𝐎𝐕. 𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈: 𝐑𝐨𝐦 𝟏𝟒:𝟕-𝟏𝟐

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟐𝟕: 𝟏, 𝟒, 𝟏𝟑-𝟏𝟒 “𝐈 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐊 𝟏𝟓:𝟏-𝟏𝟎

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “… 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒋𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 ...” (𝒗.7) 

         We have heard these two parables many times in the past and I’m sure that many of you may have already interpreted these parables in many ways but ending up with the same conclusion – that God is a merciful God who will stop at nothing to search and bring back a sinner to the kingdom of heaven.

         These two parables are not new because these are actual life situations that Jesus used to deliver a spiritual message to his audience in this Gospel passage which was a commingling of the ultra-religious Pharisees and the tax collectors and sinners.

         There is, however, a very significant message that this gospel conveys and that is the necessity for a sinner to find his way to repentance and Jesus stressed its importance when he said: “𝑰 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒋𝒐𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓.” (𝒗.7) This simply means that heaven rejoices when a sinner repents as when it celebrates when a lost sheep or a lost coin is found.

         You will probably ask why repentance is important. There are at least four reasons why it is so. One is that repentance opens the way towards a relationship with God. Like a coin, repentance has two important sides – turning away from sins and turning towards God. We must do both as it cannot be an either or situation.

         In the same way, we cannot say we believe in God and then elect to live in wild abandon. We also cannot say we are living a morally upright life without entering into a personal relationship with God because living a righteous life doesn’t result in forgiveness. There was a time when money flowed but my business wasn’t exactly moral and I thought that being generous would make me right in the eyes of God. I was wrong and when I was convicted of this I accepted God’s redeeming sacrifice that helped me in turning around my life.

         Repentance also demonstrates real faith. Acknowledgement and confession of sins and a transformed life, again, are like the two side of a coin and they are inseparable. As the Apostle James said “Faith without deeds is dead.” And so it is with us. We cannot say we acknowledged our sins without turning away from it. Repentance is inseparably linked to action. To follow Jesus is to act on what he commands us to do.

        Repentance leads to transformation. When John the Baptist said: “𝑹𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓.” (𝑴𝒕 3:1-2) We cannot possibly say we repent of our sins without a change not only in our behavior but also in our nature. Such change may not be evident overnight but only a transformed life can make your repentance real and visible.

        Repentance is also a means in which we are delivered from our bondage to sin. Have you ever experienced committing the same sin repeatedly and doesn’t it feel embarrassing that you are confessing the same sins to a priest. This is a normal behavioral pattern and will be repeated and again and the only way to stop this is to repent of that sin and invoke the power of the Holy Spirit to help you resist all occasion of sin.

         Though Jesus could have rebuked the Pharisees as he had done in the past, he instead cited these two parables that the Jews are familiar with, the parable related to a shepherd who left the 99 sheep behind to look for the one lost sheep and when he found he brought it home and called his neighbors and they rejoiced.

         Then Jesus followed this up with another parable about a woman who lost one of her ten silver coins. The woman was apparently poor because she placed so much value on the missing coin. She even had to light a lamp because it was nighttime and most homes at that time only had one small window and to look for a coin in a poor Jewish home that has a floor of hardened soil is like looking for a needle in a haystack. When she found it the woman called her friends and neighbors to share her joy.

         Aren’t we liking the shepherd and the woman? Don’t we also rejoice when we find something of value that we lost? Isn’t it that our first reaction when we find what we lost was to tell our relatives and friends? I believe this is how God feels when he finds a sinner who repents and humbly submits himself to God anew.

         Jesus told his listeners that “𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒋𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔.” (𝒗.10) What these two parables also symbolize are the persistence of the shepherd and the woman until they found what they were looking for. Our God acts in the same way. God will keep searching and persist until we, aided by his Grace, are confronted with the truth that God did not create us to wallow in sin and mediocrity.

        We were created in God’s image and likeness and were given the authority to rule over the fish of the sea and birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground (Gen 1:28). This is who we really are. We may have lost our way, but God will never abandon us because we have been predestined according to his plan (𝐄𝐩𝐡 𝟏:𝟏𝟏).        

        In the same vein, we must try to draw a parallelism between the content of these parables with the way we move in the church and or community. Now is the time for us to leave the 99 behind albeit temporarily so that we can go out and search for our brothers and sisters whom we have not seen for quite some time. It is time for us to light a lamp and look for that lost coin, those whom we don’t see anymore.

        Aren’t we alarmed when our parishioners and members have stopped attending the Eucharistic celebration and or Prayer Meeting? Are they sick? Did they move to another place? Did someone offend them, which was why they distance themselves from the Church? We will never know for sure until we search for them.

        God is a God of mercy and compassion, and he will not stop until all who are lost are found. This was the reason why Jesus was sent “𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒌 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕.” (𝑳𝒌 19:10) As Jesus searches on we must join him in this search and rescue operation to save those who are lost.

        Time is of the essence and today the world has changed radically as our faith is now being challenged not only by the immoral pieces of legislation but unabated graft and corruption in government and immoral pieces of legislation such as legalizing abortion, same-sex marriage and divorce. We are now confronted with modern-day Pharisees who are so enamored with titles and power that the more important mission of the church and or community which is to evangelize and search for the lost have been lost in translation.           

        As disciples of Christ, this task of looking out for the lost also falls squarely on our shoulders because as disciples we must share in the mission of Christ to search for those who are lost and lead them “𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐, 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒅.” (𝑷𝒉𝒊 3:10-11)  (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘕𝘰𝘷. 6, 2025)