Isaiah 50: 4-7 + Philippians 2: 6-11 + Luke 22:14 – 23:56
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Delivered at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Mustang, Oklahoma
In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus is the Good Shepherd who seeks out and finds the lost sheep, demonstrating that every single person is of eternal value in God’s eyes. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus is the face of the Father’s mercy, revealing the deep and burning desire of our Heavenly Father to find his lost children.
So Jesus seeks out and finds those who have wasted their inheritance, their gifts given to them by God. He also goes into the darkness to find other children of God who are paralyzed by resentment or bitterness or self-righteousness. Throughout the Gospel of Luke Jesus seeks out and saves the lost, even to the very end of his life, as he saves the criminal crucified with him. Responding to the cry of the criminal crucified with him — “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” — Jesus promises him eternal life.
What we discover today and throughout these holiest of days this week is that the name of God is mercy! That the innocent Son of God dies out of love for the guilty. That Jesus continues to plead for us daily at the right hand of the Father, saying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
Fr. Joseph A. Jacobi
