Today,
Jesus speaks to us of the joy, the conversion of someone who grew
apart of God, can give us. But some Gospels have texts that can be
misunderstood, such as: «I did not come to call the righteous
but sinners» (Mt 9:13), or this other Jesus also said:
«In the same way, heaven will be happier over one lost sinner
who returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and
haven't strayed away!» (Lk 15:7). It looks like God
would prefer we were sinners, but this is not so. The joy is greater
because it is a different type of joy, completely anew.
If a young emigrant
comes back home, his mother experiences a joy her other sons that
remained with her cannot give her. His mother would have certainly
preferred his son would not have had to emigrate to find a job, but
with his return home, she feels a very special kind of exultation.
When a seriously ill son recovers his health, he gives his father a
new kind of happiness his other healthy sons cannot procure him. But
the father would still have preferred his son did not fall ill at
all. It is the same joy the father of the prodigal son felt when he
came back home.
It
is evident the Lord wants us to be faithful to him and that we do not
grow apart from him. But when we do, He goes out looking for us, as
the Good Shepherd that leaves his flock at the sheep pen and goes out
seeking the lost sheep, until he finds it. «Healthy people do
not need a doctor, but sick people do» (Mt 9:12); Jesus
Christ, divine doctor, does not wait for the ailing to come, but He
himself goes out to meeting them. St. Augustine says, Jesus «calls
the sinners to peace, and the ailing to cure».
