24th Sunday in Ordinary Time (“C”)
Q. 754: Jesus is pretty excited and emphatic about the rejoicing that goes on in heaven when a sinner on earth repents and turns his life around. Why? (Return to INDEX page of "Didja Know?" series)
September 15, 2013
A. 754: This is why Jesus was sent by the Father, to seek out the lost! The mercy of God manifested or portrayed in the Holy Scriptures is described in various ways in the human arena, and it is always about forgiveness. For example, the art found in the catacombs underneath Rome is quite interesting, telling its own story. This includes the depiction of Christ as the Good Shepherd. But unless you were a Christian "insider," you would not recognize it as an icon of worship, just from the wall painting itself.
The Christians in the first three centuries had to be very careful, because they were subject to persecution from both the existing organized religions (including pagan), and the Roman emperors who were prone to blame their own troubles on the Christians. So their worship of the Risen Christ was often "disguised" in art that shows Jesus as a boy shepherd; but Christians would see the artwork and instantly know that it was a reference to Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd. The art work you see on the left is from the catacomb of Priscilla from the third century.
The message of the gospel today (Luke 15:1-10) was clear: Jesus loves all of his brothers and sisters, everyone created by his heavenly Father. He will go to great lengths to save a lost sheep (a straying Christian), and bring him back to the safety of the fold. Jesus himself will be the source of strength for the wandering or wayward one who desires to come back to the Father. Jesus will carry him on his own shoulders, i.e., he will take our wounded souls and be the source of strength and healing that we all need.
KNOW YOUR CATECHISM! The Church is the great sacrament of divine communion which gathers God's scattered children together (CCC 1108). Christ's whole life is a mystery of redemption, which comes to us through the blood of the cross (CCC 517). The Church is a sheepfold, the sole and necessary gateway to which is Christ. It is also the flock of which God himself foretold that he would be the shepherd, and whose sheep, even though governed by human shepherds, are unfailingly nourished by Christ himself (CCC 754).
Deacon Paul Rooney
Mary Our Queen Parish, Omaha
(Go back to Deacon Paul's HOME PAGE)
