INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this 24th Sunday in
Ordinary Time, Year C, is, “Get Found
Kid.”
There is a story with that title from the spiritual
writer, Robert Fulghum, about an experience he noticed. He’s at home - upstairs. He’s at his
computer. The window is open and some kids from his street are downstairs and
outside on the lawns playing “Hide and
Seek.”
Well, he spots this kid who hides so well that the other
kids get really frustrated. He adds that every group has some kid who doesn’t
get it that you’re supposed to leave some hints where you’re hiding. Fulghum sees the kid hiding - and the other
kids about to give up. Fulghum says he wants to scream out the window at the
kid, “Get found kid.”
He says the kid doesn’t have the idea how the game works.
You let yourself get found at times.
The title of my homily is, “Get Found Kid.”
TODAY’S READINGS
Last week Father Johnny Collins asked me if I would like
to take this Mass. I said, “Gladly” and then I added an extra “Gladly” when I
checked out the readings. Every preacher
would love these readings - especially today’s gospel.
The theme is Lost and Being Found.
The title of my homily is, “Get Found Kid.”
Today’s first reading has Israel slipping away from God -
hiding from God - and becoming stuck in
sin and becoming stiff necked about it. Today’s second reading has Paul who was
righteous, very righteous, far from God till God found him.
And today’s gospel has these 3 stories - these 3 parables
- about the lost being found. Lost sheep. Lost coin. Lost Son and then older
brother - ends up being lost as well.
I like to imagine Luke wandering around Christian
communities picking up stories and sayings, teachings and moments from the life
of Christ. I like to picture Luke meeting someone who told him about these 3
parables from Jesus. Luke is the only
one who has these stories.
Did Luke get on his cell phone and tell someone, “Wow! I
picked up 3 gems - 3 great parables - about Jesus today?”
And he puts them right there in the center of his gospel
- Chapter 15 - and they are the heart of Jesus message.
Get these stories - find these stories - and you have
found Jesus.
THE LOST SHEEP
Take the story of the Lost Sheep.
I remember one time back there - back then - when I praying
and thinking about this story of the lost sheep. I was thinking of death - and meeting God. And for a moment I
thought: “God better be like the Good Shepherd. I began picturing God as the
Good Shepherd - heading back from the mountains with me on his shoulders or
around his neck.
I pictured myself as a lost sheep - stuck in the brambles
- bleating, baahing - caught in the branches - of some bush. “Baaaahing.
Baaaahing! Baaahing!” so God would find me.
And God the Good Shepherd has been searching for me and
finds me in the wilderness and pulls the thorns out of me and gently frees me
from the trap I’m in.
He puts me up on his shoulders - and carries me home -
and he has this great smile on his face.
I thought about the underbelly of sheep with poop and pee
- smells and remains on me from life. And my underbelly is skin to skin with
Jesus neck - the flesh of God and he’s holding me tight and carrying me into
heaven and all are celebrating my return - my being found.
That’s heaven.
I got the thought, “What if God is not like that? What if
God is a strict judge?”
I paused and said to God, “If you’re not like that, the
hell with you.”
I paused at that - putting my hand over my mouth - and
then said, “No, if you’re not like that, I’ll go and find the Shepherd you told
me God is.”
THE LOST COIN
The second parable, the second story, is the lost coin.
Picture God as a woman going around heaven showing every
person he meets - it’s me whom he has found.
Or he calls someone over and says, “Look at this lady. She lives in
Japan and she came back home to me today in Toyko - or Omaha or Katmandu.
That’s heaven.
God found coin.
THE LOST SON
And the third story, the third parable, is the one we all
know: the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
It’s a powerful story.
The first two stories has God on a search to find us.
In this third parable Jesus has the father waiting,
waiting, waiting, and when his lost son does return he calls for a celebration
a party.
Every family has lost sons and daughters.
A niece is alcoholic and all the family is praying for
her and asking on a regular basis about her.
And if she recovers all celebrate.
I have a niece missing from 1987.
I can’t wait for the day to hear the Good News of her
return to the family.
Every family has members who have dropped out of God -
and dropped out of Church.
I just finished 17 years in a parish in Annapolis,
Maryland and I loved weddings, funerals and baptisms, because many, many, many times
someone would come up to me after a wedding, funeral or baptism and say, “I
want to return to God.”
Get found kid.
MOVING TOWARDS A CONCLUSION
And guess what, this story of the prodigal story is
inside our brains.
The voice of the older brother is inside all of us. It’s the voice of the critic, the
non-believer that God is the way God is. It’s the voice that says, “God doesn’t
want to eat with sinners.”
Down deeper it’s the voice that says, “I don’t believe
God would forgive me - eat with me - dine with me.”
The Gotta be right, perfect, clean me, can’t accept that
God would forgive this dirty messy me.
When that happens hear God the Loving and Forgiving
Father coming to me and asking me to come home again to me and celebrate.
CONCLUSION
When you get home today, find your bible.
Get found Bible.
Turn to Luke 15 and put a marker there and read today’s
three parables over and over again.
When someone dies, the priest of deacon preaching our
funeral mass might ask, “Did he have a favorite reading.”
And tell your family to say, “He loved Luke 15. He found
something in it that brought him to tears.”
