September 16 2022 - Sts. Cornelius and Cyprian - Seeking out the lost & lapsed

 

In last Sunday’s Gospel, we heard three parables of rejoicing when the lost are found. Joy over the finding of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son. 

Our Lord told these parables in response to the pharisees criticism that he dined with sinners, as a way of signaling that he has come precisely for sinners, and that the pharisees should be rejoicing over this fact. 

The saints we honor today, a martyred Pope and a martyred bishop from the 3rd century were church leaders who were concerned with the reconciliation of sinners. 

During a particularly violent persecution of the Church, led by the roman emperor Decius, many Christians, in order to save their lives, underwent the public, state-mandated ritual of offering incense to the Roman Gods.  Others, trying to get around the actual burning of incense, bribed authorities to obtain a document which stated that they had offered such sacrifices.  But that document till said, basically, “I deny Christ”. It’s still a public act—still an act of apostasy.

Now the Gospels are pretty clear that we are to hold fast to Christ to the end; we are to publicly proclaim him as Lord despite worldly pressures.

As the persecutions died down, the question arose: can these apostates be readmitted to communion? So, in the year 251, Pope Cornelius, whom we honor today, called a synod in Rome, and after presumably hearing from his bishop and theologians, declared that, yes, the apostates could be restored to communion, as long as they underwent what he called “the usual medicines of repentance”.  After all, St. Peter, prince of the apostles and first Pope and bishop of Rome had denied Christ three times, publicly.

That through penance and firm purpose of amendment, a sinner could be readmitted to Communion again. Pope Cornelius was supported in this pronouncement by many bishops, but especially St. Cyprian, the most important bishop in North Africa, who was one of the most important theologians and writers of the time.

There is no sin so great that it cannot be absolved in the Sacrament of Confession. God forgives repentant sinners, including those who have publicly denied him. There are many Catholics, who for whatever reason: anger at God, pride, public pressure, attachment to sin, have renounced their faith or lost their faith, either publicly or in their heart. They are the lost, like the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son.

But God is working, always, to help them to find their way back home before it is too late, before they are lost forever. And, he enlists us in this work: to preach the Gospel to them, to go out to them to invite them home, to prick their consciences perhaps, reminding them of their eternal soul and God’s love for them. 

The angels of heaven who rejoice over the conversion of sinners, want to help us to do our part in the reconciliation of those who have fallen away. Unlike the joyless second son in Sunday’s Gospel, we welcome sinners home with great celebration.

Through the intercession of Saints Cornelius and Cyprian may we faithfully bear God’s mercy to all those in need of it, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the Pope and all the clergy may be effective instruments of mercy, and for the grace and strength to seek out the lost, last, and least.

That through the intercession of the martyrs Cornelius and Cyprian, lapsed Catholics will be moved to return to the Sacraments.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the deceased priests, deacons and religious of the diocese of Cleveland, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord.

24th Sunday in OT 2019 - God is at work to find the lost

In the three parables of Luke chapter 15, we hear of three lost objects: A lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son.

What do they have in common? Well, they are lost. The sheep becomes lost because he strays from the flock. The coin is lost in the darkness of a windowless home perhaps due to the negligence of its owner. “My son was lost” the father said, lost in selfishness, lost in his stubbornness, lost to his passions, lost to the consequences of his imprudent actions, lost in a ruptured relationship with his family, with his father.

Now, of course, the first two objects, you can’t really blame for becoming lost. The dumb sheep really doesn’t know any better than to wander off; inanimate coins can’t be blamed for becoming lost. But the son, he made some choices, didn’t he? His alienation from family, his separation from his father’s house, was due to his own free will; he chose to demand his inheritance before the proper time; he chose to squander his inheritance on a life of dissipation.

His prodigality, reminds us of Eve in the garden. No doubt he began to entertain some really bad ideas even before the demand of the inheritance, without thinking of their consequences. He allowed himself to become enraptured in temptation.

And like Adam and Eve, his sin involved a father. Adam and Eve ignored the commands of the Heavenly Father, to not eat from the forbidden tree. And the prodigal son treated his father, as if he was meaningless to him.

The prodigal son, squandering his inheritance in sin, is representative of humanity, become separated from God in sin. And much of humanity still, living their life as if God did not exist. We, like Him, can become so lost, we don’t even realize it.

It makes us think of those who seem lost to addiction. The addict often denies the damage being done in their lives. They see their bodies wasting away and continue to drink; they see the damage they are doing to their families and continue to gamble or overspend; they see the broken relationships and broken dreams and continue to head down the path of self-destruction. The addict minimizes the most important things, like family and health, and over values the high, the pleasure, the indulgence.
So too the prodigal son overvalues his independence, his pleasure, and undervalues the relationship with his father.

This parable is often read as analogy, where again, we are the prodigals. God the father, runs to embrace us with his mercy, an embrace of love and forgiveness and welcome when we have sinned. Yet before the father saw his son form a distance and ran to him, God was also at work mysteriously behind the scenes, in the son’s decision to return home.  It’s really a sort of miracle that he even recognized how lost he was, how close he was to death. For often, addicts push themselves to the brink of destruction. The sinful soul often denies its loss of grace, the danger of hell, and fails to repent.

When I celebrate the sacrament of confession, especially for a soul in mortal sin, it is a joy. We rejoice with the angels of God who rejoice when a sinner repents. And as a priest, it is a joy to be that instrument of mercy. But I also recognize that before that soul walks into the confessional, God was at work to wake them up, to help them to realize their sinful state, to bring about the repentance, which is so often the fruit of the prayers and sufferings of the Church, your prayers, and the sufferings offered up in union with the Lord.

It also makes me think of those with whom we work in the RCIA. Yes, RCIA prepares souls for the Sacraments of New Life, baptism, confirmation, and eucharist. But, God was already at work, behind the scenes, before these souls even show up to that first RCIA session. Again, the fruit of prayers and penances.

Everyone I’ve worked with in the RCIA has always shown up to that first session, because whatever has been going on in their life, perhaps they were protestant, perhaps they were raised with no religion, perhaps they lived a life of dissipation, like the prodigal son, and recognized the damage of their self-destructive behavior, perhaps, like St. Paul describes himself in the second reading, they were a persecutor of Catholics, arrogantly convinced of their own self-righteousness. In all these cases, they always show up to that first session because God has been working, and they have this holy desire for something more.

We are happy to announce that RCIA will be starting in just a few weeks. If you are unbaptized or a member of another faith tradition and are seeking something more, RCIA is for you. God has placed that desire for something more in your heart, and it’s time to make the journey home.

The parable of Son is an invitation for all of us to seek that something more. If you are not a fully initiated Catholic, seek that something more in the RCIA. If you are a Catholic who has fallen into mortal sin, seek that something more in the Sacrament of Confession, the merciful embrace of the Father. If your spiritual life has become arid, dry, seek something more through prayer and service. If you know of someone who has fallen into a life of dissipation, invite them to something more. Be the instrument of God in their life, that helps them home. Pray, pray, pray for those who are lost, that they may be found. They may appear lost to us, but they are not lost to God.

God is at work in each of our lives, urging us to seek that something more, that union with Him through faith, hope, and love, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.