Forgive and love

24th Sunday Of Ordinary Time, Year C

Today’s Gospel gives us three parables. Jesus told these parables to make his teachings easier to understand and to teach us about God the Father. Today’s parables tell us that God is merciful and that God forgives. These parables highlight the truth that God is love.

In these parables, we hear that someone or something is lost. In the first parable, one of the hundred sheep is lost. The shepherd leaves the ninety-nine to go and look for the one which got lost. The second parable recounts how a woman, loses one of her ten coins. She looks all over the house, until she finds the lost coin. The last parable is the story of the Prodigal Son. 

The image of God which Jesus wants to evoke is mind blowing, it goes against our human nature. God is first of all, portrayed both as a man (the shepherd and the father) and as a woman (who loses the coin). God does not differentiate between anyone. God loves everyone, God is ready to forgive all sinners. God does his utmost to help us return to him, to repent and to ask for forgiveness. When we ask for forgiveness, God does not scold us, God is not proud, instead, God, ‘runs to us, embraces us, kisses us and celebrates with a feast!’  The same way that lovingly, the father was waiting for his son’s return, he lovingly reaches out to the older son who refused to enter the house for the feast. He reassures this son that, “you are here with me always, everything I have is yours.” This shows us that there are times, when some of us, may need more love and mercy; however, this does not mean that there is favouritism. For God, we are all his children. 

The elder son reflects the Pharisees and the scribes, and at times he even reflects us when we consider ourselves obedient to God and believe that we have more right for God’s love and mercy, than others who have sinned capriciously. Today, Jesus answers the Pharisees, the scribes and us, since we are shocked seeing Jesus, meeting and helping sinners. Jesus’ reply lies in these three parables. The shepherd leaves the ninety-nine to go and search for the missing one. This is how God acts towards the sinner. When the sinner asks for forgiveness, God rejoices. In the second parable, a woman has ten coins and she loses one of them. This one was very important for her, so she searches all over the house, and she does not stop until she finds it. When she finds it, she rejoices with her neighbours.

The last parable Jesus narrates is about a father and two sons. The youngest one behaves in a selfish and disrespectful way and ends up with the swine. We may be tempted to say: “Well deserved!” in case of the younger son. Could this be how we behave towards our children, when they do something which we had asked them not to do and yet they resist us and do it just the same. What is our reaction when they experience what we had warned them against?

The father’s reaction is surprising. He is not proud, he does not greet his son, with words such as, “You got what you deserved,” instead he welcomes him with open arms, he welcomes him with great joy.

The parable mentions the elder son, who feels offended that not only did his father welcome the younger son back but he also ordered a big feast. In the Lord’s Prayer, we say, “forgive us as we forgive those who trespass against us.” This parable reminds us that we are to forgive others. Until we bring ourselves to forgive others, we cannot accept wholly, the love and forgiveness God is offering us. Until we forgive the wrong done to us, it will continue to weigh us down. 

This elder son also makes us reflect on our relationship with God. The words he uses, are not those of a loving son, but more of someone obeying his duties. What does our relationship with God look like? Do we obey the commandments so that we go to heaven, because we are afraid of punishment, or do we obey them out of love for God, because we do not want to go against his wishes?

A reading from the Gospel of Luke (15, 1-32)

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 to them he addressed this parable.
“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 neighbours 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 neighbours
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.”

Then he said,
“A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father,
‘Father give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’
So the father divided the property between them.
After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings
and set off to a distant country
where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.
When he had freely spent everything,
a severe famine struck that country,
and he found himself in dire need.
So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens
who sent him to his farm to tend the swine.
And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed,
but nobody gave him any.
Coming to his senses he thought,
‘How many of my father’s hired workers
have more than enough food to eat,
but here am I, dying from hunger.
I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him,
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
I no longer deserve to be called your son;
treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”’
So he got up and went back to his father.
While he was still a long way off,
his father caught sight of him,
and was filled with compassion.
He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.
His son said to him,
‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you;
I no longer deserve to be called your son.’
But his father ordered his servants,
‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him;
put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Take the fattened calf and slaughter it.
Then let us celebrate with a feast,
because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again;
he was lost, and has been found.’
Then the celebration began.
Now the older son had been out in the field
and, on his way back, as he neared the house,
he heard the sound of music and dancing.
He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean.
The servant said to him,
‘Your brother has returned
and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf
because he has him back safe and sound.’
He became angry,
and when he refused to enter the house,
his father came out and pleaded with him.
He said to his father in reply,
‘Look, all these years I served you
and not once did I disobey your orders;
yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns,
who swallowed up your property with prostitutes,
for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’
He said to him,
‘My son, you are here with me always;
everything I have is yours.
But now we must celebrate and rejoice,
because your brother was dead and has come to life again;
he was lost and has been found.’”

The Gospel of the Lord
Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

  1. Read the Gospel story so that you are familiar with it.
  2. How do you look at God? Did any of these parables teach you something new about God’s character?
  3. After listening to the parable of the Prodigal Son, do you identify mostly with the younger or with the older son? The younger one recognises his wrong, he repents and asks for forgiveness. The older one does not accept the fact that his father forgives his son, who had treated him in such a humiliating way, and had spent all his money. 
  4. Is there someone you need to forgive? Pray, so that God gives you the help you need to be able to forgive and find peace. 
  5. Together with your family find the right time to read this Gospel. The environment helps, so before you start, prepare;
    i. The Bible reading from St Luke (15, 1-32)
    ii. A candle
    iii. Cover the table with a green cloth
    v. A computer/laptop with the readings and clips
  6. Go through the steps with your children (2 age groups are being suggested).
  7. Feel free to adapt to your situation
  8. Be creative 😊 

Where you ever lost in a crowd? How did you feel? What did your parents do? Did they look for you or did they say: “it does not matter, we will find him/her at one time or another, let us continue talking with our friends!” You are very precious to your parents, they love you, they will surely look for you, as soon as they notice that you are missing, they will be very anxious, until they find you. 

Today we have a Gospel reading which is longer than usual because Jesus tells us three parables! These parables teach us about God’s love for us.

  • God wants us to be close to him
  • No matter what we do, God continues to love us
  • A printout of the lamb on construction paper
  • Scissors
  • Colours
  • Construction paper
  • Glue
  • Printout of the face of the lamb
  • A small plastic bag
  • Popcorn
  • Sticky tape
activityDownload

Note to parents: before the activity, cut the outline of the lamb and also along the dotted lines. Prepare some popcorn and put it in the plastic bag. Cut out the face of the lamb and stick it on the plastic bag, as shown in the picture.

Did you listen well to the parables?

Can anyone retell one of them? What where the parables about?

The first one was about a shepherd who had many sheep. Do you remember how many he had? (one hundred) and how many got lost? (one)

When one is compared to 99, it is very little. So, what did the shepherd do? Did he say, “it does not matter, I still have 99 sheep, I can let the lost one be!” or did he go to look for it? (he went to look for it)

This is exactly what the woman did too. She had 10 coins, and she lost one. However, that one coin was important for her, so she searched and searched, until she found it.

Both the shepherd and the woman rejoiced when they found what they had lost.

In the beginning, you were asked if you have ever been lost. What did your parents do when they found you? They were happy that they found you. It could be that they were also angry because they had told you several times not to wander off. But although they were angry, do you think that they stopped loving you?

In the third parable that Jesus told, there was a daddy who had two sons. The younger one did not want to continue living at home. He wanted his daddy to give him the money, which he was to receive after his father died. His daddy was sad; however he gave him the money, just the same. What did the young son do with all that money? Was he careful with how he spent it? (no)

The money finished quickly. Do you remember what he did next? (he took care of the pigs, and he so hungry, he wanted to eat from their food!)

This younger son understood that he had made a bad choice, it would have been better, had he stayed at home, so he returned to his father. His father was waiting for him, just like your mummy and daddy! When you got lost they were very sad and maybe a little bit angry too. However, they continued to love you just the same. 

By means of these parables, Jesus wanted to teach us that there are times, when we do things which do not please God. When we make wrong choices, we hurt ourselves, because we are not happy and maybe others too. When we do this, it is as if we are lost, like that sheep or that coin or the young son. God is unhappy when this happens. God uses our parents, our teachers and friends, to help us understand that we made a wrong choice and be sorry. When we are sorry, God is very happy like that shepherd, that woman and the father who threw a big party for his son, who had returned home.

For today’s activity you have a picture which has been cut into 6 pieces. Will you manage to put them together again? What is the picture? (a sheep)

On the sheep you have the words, ‘God loves me and forgives me.’ Stick the pieces onto the construction paper, so that they will not move for you. Colour the words and the sheep. When you are ready, listen to this song and do the actions, be happy because we know that God is always with us.

Do you remember how happy the shepherd was when he found the lost sheep, and how happy the woman was when she found the coin? The daddy of that young son had a party when he returned. To help you remember that God loves you, and be happy about it, mummy and daddy have a surprise for you … a popcorn sheep!

Sign of the Cross.

Thank you, God, for loving us so much, thank you, for all the help you give us so that we grow up and be good children. We are sorry for the wrong choices we make, and which do not please you. Amen.

Today Jesus is going to tell us three parables, about a loss, a finding, and a celebration!

  • Whatever we do, God will never stop loving us
  • God celebrates when we ask forgiveness for our wrong choices
  • Print out each page of the activity on coloured construction paper
  • Scissors
  • Decorations
activityDownload

Have you ever played Hide and Seek?

In this game you may either be the one who hides, and you enjoy it when it takes long to find you, or you may be the seeker and you are happy when you manage to find those who had hid, quickly. Everyone enjoys playing. However, we do not enjoy it when we lose something. For example, it is time to go out to play, and you cannot find your shoes, or it is time for your parents to drop you off at a friend’s house, and they cannot find the car keys, or else you are doing a jigsaw puzzle made up of many pieces, and it is ready, except for the last piece, because it is missing. Or else we could be lost in a crowd, and we cannot find our parents. These are examples of when something or someone is lost. When we find what we have lost, we are happy, and we celebrate … maybe we even shout for joy.

Why did Jesus tell these parables?

On that day, there where people listening to Jesus, and they were not happy, that he would talk and help people, who had made bad choices. Jesus wanted to teach them, and teach us too, that God always loves us. God is not happy when we make wrong choices, however God continues to love us. God created us all, whoever we might be, we are therefore, his children. God does not choose between us; he loves us all the same. When we choose badly, it is as if we are lost, since the wrong choice distances us from God. God never loses us; it is we who move away from him. What does God do when this happens? He uses other people, to help us realise that we are moving away from him. God wants us to realise that our lives are not better if we are not near him. He wants to be close to Him and he wants to help us. God wants us to recognise that we made a wrong choice, to be sorry and to ask for forgiveness. When this happens, God rejoices, just like the shepherd, the woman, and the father of the parable.

Does this remind you of something?

It reminds us of the sacrament of reconciliation. By means of this sacrament, God makes it possible for us to ask for pardon, and he forgives us. When we turn back towards God, God does not scold us. Jesus showed this through these parables. When the shepherd found the lost sheep, he rejoiced and lifted it on his shoulders, even though he was tired after searching for it, and he took it back home. When the father saw his son returning, “he ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.” What great love, God has for us! Aren’t we lucky?

However, God expects something else from us too. God does not only want us to ask forgiveness. He commands us to forgive others. In the parable of the Prodigal Son, (prodigal means spending money recklessly and foolishly), the elder son is also mentioned. When the son saw that his father made a feast for his younger brother, he was angry. He believed that since his brother had wronged his father in such a bad way, his father should not have accepted him back so easily! The father, however, told to his elder son: “My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours.” Jesus wants to teach us that God loves everyone, that God forgives us when we are sorry and this is how we too should behave towards others. Do you remember, earlier we mentioned the missing jigsaw puzzle piece? The jigsaw puzzle was made of many different pieces, only one was missing. However, no other piece could be used instead. Until that missing piece was found, the puzzle would not be complete. We are like these puzzle pieces, we are all important, no piece can replace another. We all need to be there, for the picture to be complete. For God’s joy to be complete, we all need to be present.To help you remember that God loves you and forgives you, for today’s activity, you have cards with quotations from the Bible. Cut them out, one by one. You may wish to decorate them. Whilst preparing the cards, listen to Forever love, forever God, Now it is up to you, how to use them. You may wish to put some on the fridge, or use them as bookmarks, you may also wish to give some of them to others. The aim is that when you see them, you read them out, and remember that no matter who we are, God always loves us. Remember too, that God celebrates when we ask for forgiveness. Make it a point, to go to confession during the coming days.

Sign of the cross.

Today pray the psalm read during mass.

I will rise and go to my father.

Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
I will rise and go to my father.

Gospel in Symbols Sunday 24Download

How to use this space

God speaks to us in many ways, including through the Sunday Scripture readings. Here you will find useful background and activities to better understand the upcoming Sunday's Scripture readings, helping you to connect the Scripture to daily life in a meaningful way.