The WORD in other words (2022) by Fr Joey Ruega SVD – Catholic Trade Manila
Thursday 31st Week in Ordinary Time
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them” (Lk 15:1). Isn’t it that we still hear these words today? Sino ba yang mga kaibigan/kasama mo? Mga makasalanan, durugista, magnanakaw, mga hampaslupa, mga taong grasa/ kalye.
(What company do you keep? Sinners? Drug addicts? Thieves? Low-lifers?Vagrants?) Do we mingle with this group of people, do we have friends like them, or we also avoid them as the Pharisees did? The Pharisees, Sadducees, and many of the people during Jesus’ time avoided sinners for fear of being contaminated.
However, Jesus was different. Instead of avoiding them, he mingled and ate with them. Rather than rejecting them, he welcomed them, and he became their friend. Jesus became a pastor to them, and they found in him a person who gave value and worth to them, and that was the start of their conversion and transformation.
Rejection is a terrible experience. Those who are rejected are often considered worthless and dispensable. Who are the rejected and neglected? During the time of Jesus, they were the sinners, tax collectors, lepers, widows, beggars, and the poor.
Today, they are the street people, victims of EJK and the war on drugs, the poor and marginalized, the indigenous peoples, and many more. This group of people is considered worthless and dispensable that is why they are often the victims of violence, discrimination, and harassment. The brazen disrespect for the sacredness of human life continues until today.
The gospel is challenging us to be like Jesus – a pastor, a friend, a defender, a companion to all. Let us show that they are valued and treasured in the eyes of God, and let us help them become better children of God. Lastly, our Gospel today is very comforting because we know that we are all precious in the eyes of God and that he is always ready to look for us if we go astray. Whatever status we have in life, God will never abandon us because he loves us, as portrayed in the parables of the ‘lost sheep’ and ‘lost coin.’
Therefore, we also have to exert effort to always stay with the Lord and never go stray or get lost by being faithful to him. The only way for us to remain with the Lord is to always follow his commands and his will by doing good and avoiding evil.
