Thursday of Week 31 Year 2

There are some people in this world who are quite self-righteous. They think that they are holy, ok, faultless and have no qualms about putting others down or complaining about the weaknesses or sins of others. Sometimes even at confession, these people would go into a tirade of what other people did instead of confessing what they did. When confronted and asked about why they are coming to confession, they would try to avoid the question and continue condemning others. The scribes and Pharisees in today's Gospel are examples of such people. Instead of having compassion and mercy towards others, they complained about Jesus: "'This man' they said 'welcomes sinners and eats with them.'"

Instead of going into a heated discussion with these scribes and Pharisees, Jesus chose to expose their hypocrisy and folly through parables. He gave two parables, one concerning the lost sheep, the other concerning the lost drachma. People would usually not have bothered about losing one sheep when they had another 99. In the same way, people would usually not be too concerned about losing one drachma when they still have another 9. But to the people in today's Gospel, every sheep and every drachma was extremely valuable. The man who lost a sheep and the woman who lost a drachma were possibly quite poor, and losing even one could be disastrous. This is why they took so much effort and trouble to find that one lost sheep and drachma.

In the same way, God treats every one of us as extremely precious. He does not want any one of us to be lost. If we do get lost from time to time, God would come looking for us. When we are repentent and seek forgiveness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we have an opportunity to clean our souls and grow in relationship with God. When we do so, there would be "rejoicing among the angels of God over one repentant sinner," as Jesus said in today's Gospel. Are we willing to admit our sins, and seek forgiveness at confession, so that we could grow closer to God? Or have we become more and more self-righteous like the scribes and Pharisees, only condemning others and refusing to admit or acknowedge our guilt until it is too late?