Lost and Found

A Reflection on the Gospel for September 11th, 2022
​Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Luke 
15.1-32


Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

So he told them this parable: “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

“Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’ So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe — the best one — and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.

“Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”

“I’ve lost myself,” I said to the HR manager as I walked into her office. 
“What do you mean? “ she replied, her voice and face showing much concern.
“I can’t find my name tag,” I said. 


You can imagine that that was not what she was expecting me to say. But I did lose “myself” — the tag that identifies me to others. I couldn’t find it anywhere! I turned my office upside down and emptied all the various bags I use for work. It was nowhere to be found. We all know what it is to lose something -- be it a pen, a water bottle, a set of keys. You look everywhere for the lost item and just can’t find it. 


What happens when instead of something being lost it is someone? Suddenly the stakes are higher. Years ago when I was in Naples, I literally lost myself. Supremely lost. I was all turned around and I really wasn’t sure how to get back to my hotel. I asked directions from a tourist information booth, but the person in the booth spoke very little English and I spoke even less Italian. But I took a deep breath, said a prayer, and eventually I found my way — thank you, Holy Spirit! You can imagine my relief when I finally recognized the street that my hotel was on: I’d found it!


It is this sense of lost and found that Saint Luke highlights for us in this oh-so-familiar Gospel story. Items and people can be lost, but so too can our spirits. The usual twists and turns of life, coupled with the ups and downs of the pandemic we are still living in, have caused my spirit to be all turned around just as, physically I was on the streets of Naples. 


It is so easy to lose myself, my spirit. But, like the prodigal son when I feel the most lost, I can stop and muster up the courage to make the choice to find my way home. God will be looking for me too! Just like the shepherd looking for that one sheep or the woman sweeping to find that one coin. And when I find Him, and He finds me, we rejoice. I take comfort in these facts. And for me as a believer, they are facts. I will lose my way sometimes. And I always have the choice to go “home” to the Father who will celebrate my return with abandon. 


Months after I lost my name tag I was packing up to move offices. As I was reaching under the radiator to pick up a pen that had rolled off my desk … I found my name tag! I found myself! I was overjoyed! Yet the joy I felt is just an inkling of the joy that the Father has for us when we return to Him, over and over again, knowing that we have been lost and now are found. 


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Aurea Sadi

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