Has Anyone Seen My Keys? | November 5, 2015

November 5, 2015

I lose stuff all the time. I lose my keys (almost daily), my shoes (because they are usually in my car somewhere), my coffee cup (because I’ve set it down somewhere), my car in the parking lot (because Leprechauns must move it), my mind a lot of times (because I work with teenagers), my patience for sure (it’s a lovely family trait), and countless other items. I lose things mostly because I’m too busy and my mind is always multi-tasking doing several things at once, or I don’t pay attention to where I left things, or I’m not rooted in prayer so my patience is thin, or I’m too tired because I am always on the go. Losing stuff is fairly easy for me to do, however, finding my lost stuff varies in difficulty, process, and time. Sometimes I just need to stop what I’m doing and take a moment to think about it and I’ll remember where I put it, other times there has been couch cushions flying, tables turned upside down, pool table dismantled, refrigerators scoured through, trash picking, and once I did almost dive into a dumpster. Obviously, the amount of effort depends on the value of the lost item right? We’ve all experienced the joy, relief, gratitude, and excitement of finding something that was lost particularly if it was extremely valuable (i.e. a wedding ring) and if it was lost for a very long time.

Now let’s make ourselves the lost item except we haven’t been misplaced, we have wandered off on our own. Good Lord, if all my lost objects had legs and could just roam around freely, I’d be in some serious trouble and literally would NEVER find anything again. Because we are free, we are free to roam, to wander, to leave, to get lost, but that does not mean that God is not in hot pursuit of us. He’s on our heels all the time because the value of his lost ones is worth the highest price, which he has already been paid in Jesus Christ. The tricky part is that we need to let ourselves be found.  Unlike in today’s gospel, we are not sheep or an inanimate object like a silver coin, we live and move and have being, reason, free will, and the choice to be found or not. God makes it so easy for us to just stop in our tracks, turn around and we will literally fall into his arms.

I think a lot of times I get caught up in the chase and what I really need is to be caught in the arms of mercy, love, and forgiveness. I run because I am fearful and ashamed and he chases me because he knows that. He just wants to hold me and to let me know that there is only rest in his embrace. I know that I relentlessly search for silly things like my keys and my sunglasses, but how much more relentless is God searching for me to just sit and hold his hand? I know that most days I feel worthless of this kind of pursuit, but today’s gospel shows me that God is not like me, he is not limited, shallow, and guilt ridden; he is infinite, deep, and free. You see in my pride I have tried to mold God into my own image and have forgotten that I have already been breathed into existence in the image of love. How can I ever feel worthless with that amazing gift so lavishly poured into my soul?

Let’s stop and be found today so that we can rest in the embrace of infinite love and let mercy wipe away our shame so that we can relentlessly pursue God because he is by far the easiest to find if we just stop and look.

Reading 1 ROM 14:7-12

Brothers and sisters:
None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself.
For if we live, we live for the Lord,
and if we die, we die for the Lord;
so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
For this is why Christ died and came to life,
that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
Why then do you judge your brother or sister?
Or you, why do you look down on your brother or sister?
For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God;
for it is written:

As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bend before me,
and every tongue shall give praise to God.

So then each of us shall give an account of himself to God.

Responsorial Psalm PS 27:1BCDE, 4, 13-14

R. (13) I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
R. I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.
One thing I ask of the LORD;
this I seek:
To dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
That I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD
and contemplate his temple.
R. I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.
R. I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.

Alleluia MT 11:28

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel LK 15:1-10

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.” 
So Jesus addressed this parable to them.
“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?
And when he does find it,
he sets it on his shoulders with great joy
and, upon his arrival home,
he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them,
‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 
I tell you, in just the same way
there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous people
who have no need of repentance.

“Or what woman having ten coins and losing one
would not light a lamp and sweep the house,
searching carefully until she finds it?
And when she does find it,
she calls together her friends and neighbors
and says to them,
‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’ 
In just the same way, I tell you,
there will be rejoicing among the angels of God
over one sinner who repents.”