Weekly Bulletin

One way that some ancient languages formed superlatives was through triple repetition. If there was no word for “holiest” they would say “holy, holy, holy.” This threefold enforcement gets used by Jesus today, as he tells three parables about how God wants nothing more than to have every sinner restored to grace. The central characters would have been considered outright fools by those who heard Jesus: the shepherd abandoning the whole flock to find one stupid, wandering sheep; the woman frantically sweeping, ignoring her other duties, to find the least valuable coin; the father whose son told him, “You’re dead to me, old man,” yet still a father who runs like a giddy adolescent to meet the son, then throws a party. Jesus’ audience had no difficulty believing the fact their Lord and God Adonai loved them. They knew God was filled with boundless mercy and loving-kindness. But please, is God going to act like a crazy fool about it?

Prodigal’s prayer

THREE PARABLES, THREE FOOLS