November 6, 2025, Luke 15:1-10

In today’s reading, the tax collectors and sinners came near to listen to Jesus teaching. These people were the outcasts of society, considered to be the lowest of the low. They knew they were not strictly following the rigorous laws of the Jewish faith, so they also had a low opinion of themselves, and they felt like failures. Yet they found themselves in their situations, their livelihoods, which was how they got by in life.  In a sense, they felt stuck.

As Jesus welcomes them to come listen to the teachings and connects with them, they feel a glimmer of hope. That glimmer of hope, a spark, an opening, as they turn their faces towards Jesus with hope of still being loved by God.

In this scene, the Pharisees and scribes, the authorities of the Jewish establishment, complain about Jesus, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them,” which were both actions contrary to the strict Jewish laws.  Then Jesus told them two parables. First, if a man has a hundred sheep and loses one, he will search and search until he finds it. When he finds it, he feels great joy and also invites his friends and neighbors to rejoice with him that it has been found.  Second, if a woman has ten coins and loses one, she will sweep and search her house until she finds it, then feel great joy when it is found, and invites her friends to celebrate with her.  Just so, Jesus tells us, “there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”  He is saying that when the outcasts before him turn their faces towards God and feel that glimmer of hope, in that moment there is great rejoicing in heaven.

Here Jesus tells us clearly that the heavenly hosts – Jesus, the angels and saints – care so deeply about humanity that they do sorrow and rejoice over how we are doing spiritually. They see our struggles. They are willing to give guidance over the smallest detail. Nothing is too little to escape their attention. They are there listening, and we can come to them with our worries and anxieties, our decisions and struggles. It is OK to pray and ask for help with matters large and small. This only serves to build our relationship with God.  As the Jesuits teach us, in prayer we can converse with Jesus as a friend, as a very human yet divine friend, telling our troubles and difficulties, our questions and doubts, our regrets and resolutions to do better.  And sometimes, when we leave it in the hands of God, prayers are answered, we are not sure when or how, and often in far better ways than we could have ever imagined.

That is all.