Jesus addressed the pharisees and teachers of the law this parable.

XXIV Sunday “C” Luke 15, 1-32 15 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus.2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. 8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins[a] and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” 11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. 13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. 25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ 28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ 31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

In Mexico we celebrate the feast of the triumph of the cross on May 3rd. Here it is the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time so we have a different gospel. The Gospel here is the parable of the Prodigal Son. When I was pastor of Saint Mary’s in Whittier I began a group for parents and family members of children who were LGBTQ. My motivation was learning that the attempted suicide rate for young for LGBTQ youth was 39% or 4 times the rate for non LGBTQ youth. Since I am firmly pro-life I thought we as a church should do something about this. So we started a group called ABRAZOS. It is simply a group of parents who meet the second Thursday of the Month to talk. No professionals, no presentations, no classes simply to talk. There are two families who are our core members and others drop in every so often. Most often it is parents who are struggling with the fact that there child came out to them as gay and they are not sure how to respond. This past Thursday, during the regular meeting time of ABRAZOS there were two large anti-homosexuality banners attached to the front gate of the Church. The people there were praying the rosary and they held a third large sign blocking the sidewalk at the street corner. The parable begins noting that the scribes and teachers of the law were muttering against Jesus saying “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable: Jesus told the parable of the prodigal son to those scribes and teachers of the law, I address this homily to the people who were in front of St. Mary’s this past Thursday night. In Jesus time the thing that most upset the people was the way Jesus would welcome sinners and people on the margins, the ones who were excluded by the religious leaders of his day. The thing that got these good people the most upset was that Jesus would sit down and eat with these folks. That is accept that as human beings not pariahs or people to be afraid of. In Jesus’ time was the sinners and the “Excluded” felt drawn to Jesus and his message. The Gospel begins by saying, the tax-collectors and sinners were gathering around Jesus to hear him. It seems that they felt welcomed by Jesus something that they didn’t experience from others. On the other hand, the pharisees and teachers of the law, those men (they were all men in Jesus’ time) who were seen as the holier than thous were only able to criticize Jesus for what he did, “This one receives sinners and eats with them.” Jesus couldn’t be a good person because he was hanging out with sinners. But Jesus didn’t pay any attention to the criticism. He always presented a God of love, mercy and forgiveness. Jesus’ God was very different from those who sat in the front row of the synagogues, or praying the rosaries in front of the church. Jesus was there with the people offering understanding and friendship. The sinners, prostitutes and tax collectors were welcomed by Jesus. No one needed to be ashamed or felt judged, they were welcome to sit down and eat with Jesus, to tell stories sing songs, to just hang out, Jesus let them know that they were loved and included. At this point people like to point out to me the story of the woman caught in adultery, where Jesus says, “go and sin no more.” A parable of 224 words but they choose to focus on the last 5 words. If they think that that is the whole point of the story I would say that they missed the point and they probably would be justified to begin throwing stones at the women, because that is what they are doing. They are focusing on the sins of others more than themselves. They are throwing stones. Jesus accepts us where we are and who we are. He doesn’t require anything before hand. The confessional isn’t the only door to Jesus. The prodigal in the story returned to the father and did he have to confess his sins first? No, in fact the father didn’t even want to hear his confession, he simply embraced him. Our group isn’t for the prodigals anyway, it is for the parents. We want to help the parents of LGBTQ youth to be like the father, to run to their children, open their arms and kiss them. That is what Yvonne, Robert, Gloria, and Maria were doing on Thursday night, they were helping parents to love their children. I don’t mind people labeling us sinners, because the truth is we are all sinners but to be gay in and of itself is not sinful. The job of the Church is to be faithful to the message of Jesus, it is not to condemn anyone, but rather to understand and love everyone. Pope Francis said again and again, that God always welcomes everyone and he had people chant with him “Todos! Todos! Todos!” In this jubilee year just late week Pope Leo welcomed the LGBTQ community to Rome and they were invited to enter in procession as the LGBTQ community through the Holy Door in Rome along with their gay flags. The group outside of the Church on Thursday night obviously were critizing us for our ministry to LGBTQ families. The pharisees and teachers of the law were criticizing Jesus. I guess that we stand in good company.