Thursday November 6, 2025

Luke 15:1-10

The tax collectors and the sinners were all seeking the company of Jesus to hear what he had to say, and the Pharisees and the scribes complained. ‘This man’ they said ‘welcomes sinners and eats with them.’

Sometimes we tend to read over these opening remarks of this beautiful passage. We want to get to the meat and potatoes of what he said and did. But slow down for one second, the writing above may not just be setting the scene of what Our Lord said to the Pharisees and Scribes. Remember what Fr Rickstatter said when I was in seminary “brothers there are no throw away lines in scripture, paper and ink were too expensive to have throw away lines.”

Maybe this is the goodness!! The good news is that finally Tax collectors and sinners were seeking him. These poor miserable souls had been written off. There was no place for them in the kingdom as preached by the Pharisees. This is why our Lord does not spend too much time in synagogues. He is outside the synagogues also seeking the lost sons and daughters of Abraham wherever they could be found. Have you noticed that whenever Our Lord is in the temple he is causing trouble? Anyway I digress … back to the message. Are you seeking the Lord? He is dying and rising to meet you wherever you are. Today make some time for him and say a prayer.