Lost?

Today’s readings present many different facets of the same wonderful jewel: God’s love calling out to those who have strayed.

In the first reading, God’s people have strayed down the paths of destruction, yet God’s mercy proves mightier. The Responsorial Psalm is from David’s great prayer of repentance: the Miserere. In the second reading, St. Paul repeats his tremendous gratitude for the mercy and grace God has personally given to him, even after his great sins. Finally, the long form of the Gospel tells the wonderful parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Prodigal Son.

Have we strayed? Do we feel a little lost? Do we feel very lost?

Perhaps, like the ancient Israelites, we have tried to be like the rest of the world, devoted to glittering things of human invention that ultimately mean nothing. God wants us back.

Perhaps, like David, we have given in to our desires or have tried to cover one sin with more sin. God wants us back.

Perhaps, like Saul who later became Paul, we have fought to uphold the status quo and found ourselves fighting against God. God wants us back.

Perhaps, like sheep, we wandered in search of new ways to satisfy ourselves and found ourselves in a spiritual wasteland. God wants us back.

Perhaps, like a coin knocked on the floor, we have been sped along by events beyond our control and found ourselves in places we do not want to be. God wants us back.

Perhaps, like the Prodigal Son, we have gone off to "do our own thing" and somehow lost everything. God wants us back.

God is looking for us. God is reaching out to us. God puts the desire and the words in our hearts to turn back to him, to ask his help, to return to his truth, and to experience the riches of his mercy.

No matter how lost we have been, God wants us back.