St Francis of Assisi Church, Llay at 12.30pm on Sunday 10th June.
There is imprinted upon us the image and likeness of God, just as there is the image and likeness of the ruler upon our coins. The woman turns her house upside down to find that lost coin. St. Gregory instructs us that the coin (or image of God) is still within us (our house). The image of God is hidden or covered with dirt or dust of our sins. We need not go out of ourselves to find Him. He is there within us. We do need to turn our house upside down to see Him once more. We must make a thorough house-cleaning. We need to examine our consciences and do penance and in this manner the image of God is restored within us. The coin is returned to its rightful place.
This analogy of St. Gregory suggests to us that we must be ever cautious concerning our spiritual life. God's omnipresence is a doctrine that does not seem to be fully appreciated in our days. God is everywhere, even within us. Or, as St. Augustine tells us, we do not find God within us as much as we find ourselves in God. It is similar to the fact that there is air within us; but it is more properly said that we find ourselves in the air that we breathe, rather than find the air that we breathe within ourselves. When we sin, God is not only there to observe the disorder and crimes that we commit, but He is even present within us. He is in a manner made a hostage or prisoner within us forced to watch silently as we take advantage of Him and abuse His goodness. We heap dirt and filth upon Him by our sins. In this manner He is lost to us; or more appropriately we are lost to Him. For it is more appropriate to hold that we belong to God, rather than that He belongs to us.
Christ is, therefore, the Good Shepherd that has come to find the lost sheep and restore us to His Heavenly Flock; and He is the Woman who turns the house upside down in cleaning it to restore His beautiful Image within our souls. What is necessary for us, is to stop hindering His efforts, and allow His grace to transform us. We must first acknowledge that we are sinners, as did all those who in today's Gospel came to hear Him. We are all sinners and are all in need of His saving help. The Pharisees were perhaps in the greatest need of Him even though they considered themselves to be just. With this in mind, we should always be wary of growing lax in our spiritual pursuit of purification.
God begins, this turning of our souls upside down by gradually revealing to us our sins. He shows us little by little the dust, then the dirt, then the filth in our souls. He inspires us first to do a little dusting. If we cooperate with Him, He will show us that we need to do a little more than dust, we must break out the broom. If we cooperate in this, He will then show us that dusting and sweeping aren't nearly enough; we need to bring out the scrub bucket with lots of soap and water. We suggest that God does this gradually because if He showed us just how bad we truly are we would fall into despair.
To prevent this despair, we have the parable of the lost sheep. When the shepherd has found the lost sheep, he does not force the sheep to walk or do anything. The Good Shepherd picks up the sheep and puts him upon his own shoulders and carries him back to the flock. All that is truly necessary on our own part, is to allow God to work His grace within us. We must stop running from Him. We must stop fearing the punishment He will inflict upon us.
Christ would have us understand His great love for us. He desires only that which is good for us. He knows best what we need; and He will only ask of us that which He, Himself, will give to us. The penances and mortifications that our sins require of us; will be made possible by His grace. He will give us all that we need to do. It is truly as St. Paul tells us: "I can do all things in Him Who strengthens me." And, all things are made possible to those who love God.
Let us allow ourselves to be cleaned and found and put back into right order so that God's image can once again be clearly visible within us. Then allow ourselves to be carried through our necessary penances and mortifications as He returns us to His Heavenly fold.