Lk 15:1-10 Timing and Praying is Everything

Thursday of the Thirty-First Week in Ordinary Time
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The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."

This man welcomes sinners.  Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus.  If that weren't bad enough, they were also inviting Him to their homes to dine with them. 

And the Lord said yes.  Shocking!  Absolutely shocking! 

I find it very interesting how His acceptance shocked the hell out of many sinners but yet brought hell upon the Pharisees and scribes.  Reading this passage today reminds me of a chilling story in Scripture:  the story of the demon possessed man.

"When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him.  ...No one was strong enough to subdue him.  Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.  When he saw Jesus...he ran and fell on his knees in front of him.  He shouted at the top of his voice, "What do you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?  In God's name don't torture me!"  ...Jesus asked him, "What is your name?"  "Legion, for their are many."  A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside.  The demons begged Jesus, "Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them."

It seems like even the Spiritual world imitates somewhat the physical one; that is, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction (cf. Newton's Third Law). 

Happy sinners, Angry Saints.  Doesn't it seem like the harder the Lord tried to convert sinners the angrier his critics got, even to the point of name-calling, where the Son of Most High became the son of Beelzebul?

What got into these people?  Hell.

What on earth did the Lord do to deserve such disrespect?  He showed compassion to the unforgiveable, even while they were unforgivably ugly to Him!  He gave the possessed His undivided attention, even while they divided His garments and screamed at the top of their lungs at Him.

The more the Lord forgave sinners, the more the "religious" hated Him!  The more time He spent with tax collectors and prostitutes, the more the "religious" and "authorities" spent time seeking ways to put Him to death. 

Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but can change form.  The more converts the Lord made, the more reverts He made. 

The Lord's Lost Sheep.  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?  Answer, please?

Unfortunately, there are far too many of us out there in the world (or desert) who would just keep walking.  They wouldn't give that lost sheep a second thought, especially if it was more like an ugly duckling.   

He's not worth your effort.  Good riddance!  Just keep walking.

But of all the possible scenarios out there, the most sadistic of all is to go out looking for the lost sheep because... "it is worth my effort."   We tend to love the loveable and forgive the forgivable.  For example:  guys are more than willing to help gals if they are pretty, and not so much if they are not.

Loss and Gain.    St. Paul tells us, "Brothers and sisters:  Whatever gains I had, these I have come to consider a loss because of Christ.  More than that, I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord" (Phil 3:8).

There we have it:  To gain we most lose.  To live we must die.  It's pure Christian physics.  To gain the whole world and lose one soul is like taking gravity and turning right-side up.  Weird, just weird. 

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. 
Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but can change form.  With passion and zeal, St. Paul fought the Christians.  With passion and zeal He died to save them.  And though he was blameless before the law, he humbled himself before the Lord, becoming all things for all people - Jew for the Jews and gentile for the gentiles. 

He changed forms and became the master preacher of grace. 

Whatever gains St. Paul experienced he now considered a loss because of Christ Jesus.  He was lost and had found His way home. 

Jesus found His lost sheep.  And to this day, the celebration continues in Heaven over it. 

Timing and praying is everything.