One of the often humorous by-products of the internet is the meme. These often cartoonish snapshots of what the author presents as a comprehensive and erudite capsulized argument generally fail to contribute much to the intellectual discussion. One of the memes that has been going around begins: “today I want to be more like Jesus: hang out with sinners, upset religious leaders …”

Certainly, this is something that Jesus did, and something that we all ought to do, but we must go beyond “hanging out” — we have to work to lead them to conversion, for leaving people in their sins is neither the work of Jesus nor of the Church.

The parables that Jesus tells us this weekend point us in two distinct directions. The parables of the lost things, unique to Luke’s Gospel account, move from the inanimate objects: sheep and coins, to the prodigal son.

In the first two instances something is lost and the one who lost the item must go in search for it. In the case of the sheep the shepherd chooses to leave ninety-nine sheep alone to look for the one who has strayed. While this is an unreasonable situation as it endangers the other sheep left now on their own, the shepherd brings the lost sheep back. He throws the sheep on his shoulders and carries it back, not because it is tired and weary from its venture, but because he would have broken its leg so that it couldn’t walk. This way the sheep learned not to stray from the others. The sheep then got to spend more with the shepherd who now had to carry it around and help it to get food. This enabled a stronger bond between sheep and shepherd so that it would be less likely to stray. In this case, the disciplining of the sheep is both corrective and therapeutic.

The next parable is that of a woman who lost one of her gold coins. This was of great value and would count as a significant loss. She searches her entire house and, upon finding it, celebrates with her neighbors. While this might not be prudent -- don’t let your neighbors know how much cash you keep in your house -- this is a reminder of her joy at discovering what was lost. Jesus reminds us of the joy at discovery of that which is lost. Unlike the sheep, the coin has no idea it was lost and, of course, it did not get lost on its own. The woman herself misplaced it. Like the shepherd she sought that which was lost as neither the sheep nor the coin was going to become unlost. 

This leads to the parable of the prodigal son. The son willfully leaves and puts everything aside. He abandons his family and all that is familiar. Unlike the shepherd and the widow, the father does not seek the son. He does not send out others to look for him nor does he go looking for the son himself. He waits and he waits patiently. We do not have a sense of how long he waited but the parable leaves the impression that it must have been a long time. 

Something had to happen. The son needed to come to his senses and return home. The father wasn’t forcing him to come home. When he gets home he is greeted with much fanfare and celebration. The father is more than happy to have his son return healthy and safe. 

The son needed to experience some sense of a conversion in order to return home. His was an interior realization that he had acted rashly and needed to be reconciled. The celebration that ensues celebrates his return, his restoration, and his change of heart. 

Jesus eats with sinners and celebrates with them, not because he is celebrating their sinfulness, but because he is celebrating their conversion from their sins. As we often see in the Scriptures -- think of Matthew or Zacchaeus -- meeting up with Jesus and celebrating with him is life changing. None of them return to their former way of life. Rather, they take on a new life, the life of discipleship.

So, it is not enough to say we eat with sinners, for if we leave sinners in their sins, then all we have done is condemned them to remain in their sins. 

Every day is an opportunity to turn from sin, celebrate new life in Christ, and life the life of discipleship.

Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.