My friends, the Scriptures for this Sunday speak a great deal about “listening”—to ourselves and to others, in order that we might have a better understanding of who we are—what God may be calling us to, and what others in our world may be needing from us.  Because you see, for the Christian follower of our brother Jesus, it is very much about action on our parts—we can’t just “hear” the Word and do nothing—this is clearly not acceptable. 

   I belong to a Franciscan Life Group (FLG) as a Cojourner with the Rochester, Minnesota order of Franciscan Sisters, that this past week was finally able to meet in person after all the months of COVID where only Zoom gatherings were possible. 

   Our topic for reflection was the volume of ideas and concerns that have been raised over the past couple of years under the title, Synod on Synodality called for by Pope Francis. This synod or any synod is a time when the laity and the bishops, especially the bishops, are encouraged to truly “listen” to one another, so as to perhaps make concrete decisions for change to make our Church more inclusive, open, and vibrant.  As you might expect, our discussion of a half hour was only able to scratch the surface of the needs out there to make our Church more inclusive, open, and vibrant. 

   I told my life group that when I heard of this synod two years ago, I didn’t approach it with much enthusiasm as I still remember a like process done in the 1980’s—for a pastoral letter on women.  Thoughts and comments from women were sought from around the world. The letter went through four revisions with the first draft the most complete and telling about what women were asking for, and by the time the fourth and final draft appeared, the beautiful and complete statements of what women wanted and needed from their Church were completely gutted.  But when those who have the power within the Church represent only half of the people, (the men) this is to be expected. 

   When I did my pastoral project for my master’s degree from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota in Pastoral Ministries in 1999, I chose to study and write about clericalism and lack of voice for women within our Church under the title, Excluded by Birth, Diminished by Language: A Case for Inclusivity Within the Catholic church. I had the rare privilege of working with then, Bishop Raymond Lucker of the New Ulm diocese in Minnesota as he was implementing a system of lay pastoral administrators in his diocese to cover for the lack of male priests. 

   I had hoped to eventually have my research published and tried several avenues to have that done, and other than being able to place a hard-bound copy of it in the university library, that was the extent of sharing the word of how one bishop was “listening” to his people and doing what he could to allow the voices of lay women and men, as well as women religious to be heard. 

   A final note might be to add that we were in the long papacy of John Paul II who basically was not listening, so in many respects, other than the National Catholic Reporter, not many other publications were willing to “listen” either. 

   The prophet Amos is attempting today through the first reading to get the people of his time to “listen,” and his issue was the “poor” and he speaks rather forcefully relaying God’s displeasure of those who “trample on the needy” [for their own gain].

   It is important for us all to remember that people are “poor” in many ways.  In the discussion of “synodality” or any other synod issue, when all the voices are not heard, we are all a poorer people.  Our second reading today from Timothy speaks in a general way to this issue, where he says, “there should be prayers offered for everyone…[this] will please God…who wants everyone to be saved and reach full knowledge of the truth.”  When we listen, truly listen, to another and hear perhaps, a reality other than our own, we give the very best “prayer” to another. 

   The gospel from Luke today has a somewhat confusing message from our brother Jesus.  We may have found ourselves asking, is Jesus really praising the dishonest steward who is trying to save himself from ridicule and/or punishment?  Exegetes tell us “No” and that Jesus is really lifting up the “creativity” of the steward in finding a solution that ultimately helps others. 

   Within our FLG, I shared my frustration with Church leaders who justify their inaction or inability to truly hear the needs of their people with the adage: “the Church moves slowly!”  As one of our members said, “Well that is just an excuse!” 

   Going back once more to Luke’s gospel for today, our brother Jesus ends his teaching with, “You cannot worship God and money.”  Again, looking broadly at Jesus’ words, “money” can be seen as a catchall for whatever stands in the way of “worshipping God” through our actions in the world.  We can certainly look at “power” in that sense and our Church hierarchy’s strong grasp of it!

   Clericalism, that need for men to stand alone as the only conduit for the message of the Spirit is truly about “power” and their need to hold on to it.  Not much that is truly good can be accomplished through this synod or any other until this issue of clericalism is addressed. 

   So my friends, in Timothy’s words once again, [let each of us offer] “prayers for everyone,” that we might be good “listeners” of all the stories and strive to address all the needs expressed.  Amen? Amen!

My friends, I would guess that you, like me, had to wonder a bit hearing the first reading from Exodus today.  Here we have a “God” depicted through the words of Moses who is definitely lacking in one of the key components that we all would look for in a loving God—the quality of “mercy.”  In fact, Moses seems more compassionate and understanding than does God, and he has to basically talk “his God” into acting more like God. 

   We question why God is depicted this way, and all that I can come up with is that the people of Moses’ time, as we have discussed before, saw their God more as a reflection of themselves, then of the loving entity that God was.  Often, in the Old Testament, it is the prophets, like Moses, who call out the best in the people when “God” apparently falls short. It would take Jesus coming among us, to show who God truly is!

   Few of you probably remember Pope John Paul I because he was only pope for a month, dying far too soon, and as one reads about him and his life, he had much that he could have offered our beleaguered Church.  Some have even thought and wrote about the fact that this otherwise, very healthy man may have had some help in dying before his time.  Regardless, this John Paul was said to have not liked the “God” of the Old Testament! My guess is that the Old Testament God, as depicted here by Moses, was a far cry from the God depicted by our brother Jesus. 

   The remainder of the readings for today uplift the quality of mercy—in Paul’s letter to Timothy, his young convert, and also in the gospel of Luke, where in the long version that we used today, we are gifted with three versions of our merciful God:  the Good Shepherd who will always search out the lost one, the woman who turned her house upside down looking for a lost coin—which by the way, is the same story as the Good Shepherd, only giving a feminine face to our loving God.

   The final face of God given us to consider in this lengthy reading from Luke is probably, in my mind, the most beautiful depiction Jesus gave us of who our God truly is—the story of the “Prodigal Son,” but more so, the “Prodigal Parent.”  The son shows us, “over-the-top” selfishness, and disregard for the mores of his family and community, and the parent shows, “over-the-top” love, and acceptance, regardless of mores, for the errant child, and thus, we, today, get a clear view of how God will look upon us as well. 

   In order for us to truly get a view of what Jesus is saying here about God in using the story of the Prodigal, it is important for us to look at how the people in Jesus’ time and culture would have heard and understood it.

   An inheritance was given to an offspring at the death of the parent.  In this story, the son asks for it early—the first custom broken which shows disrespect for the parent, which the parent dismisses and gives the inheritance anyway. 

   Now it would have been one thing had the son gone out and used the inheritance wisely, but as the story reveals, this was not the case.  When the son, who eventually becomes penniless and is basically starving, having squandered his father’s gift, comes to his senses and returns, expecting to no longer be treated as a “son,” but as a “servant,” he discovers instead, the over-the-top love of his father. 

   It is good to look further into the cultural mores of this time, to get a better—more complete view of the parent’s action.  The story tells us that the father “runs” to meet his son.  This is important because the custom would have been for the “errant one” to be met at the city gates by a representative of the community, who would have broken a clay pot at the person’s feet, signifying that the relationship with the community had been broken, and going forward, “the sin” would always be remembered.

   The Prodigal Dad, wanting to spare the child that humiliation, runs ahead, meets him, and lovingly takes him home.  In our time, we would say, this dad “had his son’s back!” 

   And this notion of God, “as merciful” is fine nuanced in Paul’s letter to Timothy where Paul relates the sins of his former life and proclaims the “mercy” he was shown by the God of Jesus, [when he] “did not know what he was doing in his unbelief.”

   So my friends, because “mercy” is so dominant the theme today, I used some literary license in changing the psalm response to the prayer of the 23^rd psalm, “Shepherd Me O’ God and used it likewise for the Prayers of the Faithful.  Where psalm 51 indicates the first action needed, “I will rise up and return to my God,” the 2^nd response is the on-going prayer of one who wants God to always show them the way.

   In conclusion then, the heartfelt words of Paul to Timothy, “that he did not know what he was doing in his unbelief,” seem perhaps, a response to much that is wrong in our Church and world today.  We must all pray that the God who loves us so much will show us—shepherd us, into the best ways of being for ourselves and for others.  Amen?

Amen!