Holy Spirit Catholic Church
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Twenty-Fourth Sunday
in Ordinary Time
September 16, 2007
Some years ago, Father John Powell wrote a best-selling book called "He Touched Me" It was an extremely personal book. In it, he admitted many of his own personal weaknesses and faults. He also talked about God's goodness to him.
Father Powell said that when he finished writing the book, he began to feel a little uneasy. The reason was obvious. Now the whole world would know about his own personal brokenness. And so he concluded his book with these words to his wide reading audience: "Some of the admissions I have made in these pages...came hard for me...and I hope you will accept what I have written as I have intended it: as an act of love."
During the year after the book's publication, Father Powell received an average of 4-5 letters a week. They were from people who were deeply touched by his book. Many of the letters contained similar stories from the personal lives of the people who had written them.
One story stood out in a special way. It was from a young woman who had lived "an evil life for many years." One day she had decided to end her life. She figured her life was a failure, and there was no point in prolonging it. So she went down to the ocean. She would swim out as far as she could and then let nature do the rest.
Before swimming out into the ocean, however she walked along the deserted beach to say her tearful good-byes to the world. As she walked along she heard a clear and distinct voice which told here to "stop, turnaround, and look down." When she did this, all she could see were her own footprints in the sand. Then she watched as the ocean waves rushed in and erased her footprints.
Again, she heard the voice speak to her, saying: "Just as you see the waves of the ocean washing away your footprints on the sand, so has my love and mercy erased all your past. I am calling you to live and to love, not to die." By instinct she knew it was the voice of God. That event was the turning point in her life.
The hundreds of letters that Father Powell received from readers, and this letter in particular, are eloquent testimony to what Jesus tells us in today’s gospel.
Jesus tells us that God is a loving parent. God knows us and our sinfulness better than we know ourselves. In spite of this, God loves us infinitely more than we love ourselves. And God is more eager to forgive us than we are to ask God for forgiveness.
This is a message we all need to hear over and over and over again. And as we hear it over and over again, hopefully, the day will dawn when we will understand and realize it...not just in our head, but also in our heart.
And the day we do this is the day when, like the woman in the story, we will hear the same voice she heard...a voice, saying: "Just as you see the waves of the ocean washing away your footprints on the sand, so has my love and mercy erased all your past. I am calling you to live and to love, not to die." And instinctively, too, we will know what the young woman knew: that it was the voice of a loving God speaking to us in the depths of our heart.
The theme of today's readings is God's love, mercy, and forgiveness. In Exodus we see the Lord relent in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people. In First Timothy we are told that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And from the GospeI of Luke we just heard the powerful story of the Prodigal Son. Love! Mercy! Forgiveness! God knows us better than we know ourselves. God loves us better than we love ourselves. God is more eager to forgive us than we are to ask for forgiveness.
Through the Church, God offers us His forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Our Catholic faith requires us to partake of this sacrament a minimum of once per year. I highly encourage you to take advantage of this sacrament every opportunity you get. Let the waves of God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness wash away the sins, guilt, and regrets of your past!