Who is looking for me?

Homily

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

11 September 2022

St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas

Annual Feast of Dedication

AMDG

Who is looking for me?

Too often when I hear the 15th chapter of Luke, I zero in on the two sons.  Which one am I?  Who am I?

Yet I think there's a better question in play - not who am I, but where am I?

This is God's original question to man.  Adam and Eve, where are you?  It's the first question mankind has to answer.  The first question might also be the best.

Who is looking for me?

Too much of my life is spent searching for myself.  What is my true, authentic identity?  It can be a fool's journey, not unlike that of the prodigal son, who tries desperate to find himself by running away.  This approach can lead to a frustrating and endless mind game of labels and comparisons.  You know the drill.  You play this game all the time, as do I.

Am I the older or younger son?  Am I Judah or Ephraim?  Am I an old prude or reckless child?  Am I liberal, trying to cast off oppression real and perceived, or conservative trying to hold on tight to what I have.  Am I a prodigal or a Pharisee?  Am I Republican or Democrat?  Am I a modern Catholic or an old school radical traditionalist?  Am I a Pope Francis or Pope Benedict fan?  Do I watch Fox News or CNN?

The either/or label game can last a lifetime and never arrive anywhere.  It's not really the point of the parable.  Either/or comparisons never do justice to the mystery of a person in relation to a transcendent God.  As I am in the image and likeness of God, so also do I transcend human labels.  Either/or labels and comparisons can be interesting distinctions, but must give way to the both/and paradoxes endemic to the mystery of faith.  The point is that I am both the older and younger son.

Which makes room for the ultimate point of Luke 15, which are parables about a crazy shepherd, a kooky old woman, and a foolish Father.  That's who is looking for me, strange as it may seem.

The best identity available to me is to be dumb, worthless and lost.  Why?  Because God reveals Himself as a crazy shepherd who smiles when a dumb sheep pees on his neck.  He parties over a penny while not caring about millions.  He rejoices at the chance to forgiven even as His sons laugh in His face.

Who is searching for me?  It's a better question than who am I.  Apparently, there is someone who has decided He can't live without me, not matter the cost.  

Why would I search for an identity anywhere else?