Searching for a Lost Coin
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Twenty-Fourth Sunday of the Year | |
 Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14God's people are sinning against the commandments, but Moses begs that they not be punished, and so God forgives them. 1 Timothy 1:12-17In a letter to Timothy, Paul talks about what a sinner he had been, and how God had dealt with him so mercifully. Luke 15:1-32When accused of eating with sinners, Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost prodigal. |
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| This Week... | ||
| No one is unimportant. God cares about everyone. God does not abandon the sinning Israelites; Paul is given grace and mercy; and God will chase after us with love like that of a shepherd who goes after a lost sheep, a loving parent who goes after a lost child, and a woman who goes after a lost coin in her home. | ||
| For Your Reflection | ||
The woman seraching for the lost coin is an image of God-the One who loves us, sees us as precious, knows we are lost, and searches for us until we are found. When have you felt "lost"? When have you felt far away from God? Do you feel that way now? If so, what is it like? How does it affect your life? If not, what happened to bring you back to God? The woman searching for the lost coin can also be an image of us-one who sees a friend who is in trouble, or lost, who knows that the friend is precious, and who goes after that friend in the hope of being supportive until that friend can come around. When have you been that kind of support for a friend or a family member? What happened? The woman searching for the lost coin can also be an image of a friend or parent searching for us when we are in a "lost" period of our life. Lots of problems can bring us down so that we become depressed; develop unhealthy attitudes, behaviors, or addictions; and start to mess up our life. When have you needed some kind of special help or support duing a "lost" time in your life? When you were the lost coin, who seached high and low looking for you, trying to bring you back The woman in the parable looked diligently until she found that lost coin. If you had ten silver pieces and one was missing, how much time would you spend looking for that one piece? What was the most valuable item you have ever lost? How long did you search for it? Did you ever find it? What did you do to celebrate? |
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Excerpt from In Touch With the Word, Cycle C, 2006.
