The Lost Coin // Part 1
Part 1 of the 2 part series: The Lost Coin
The Lost Coin is part of the two-week study "The Lost Series"
Luke 15:8-10; 2 Corinthians 3:17
Sometimes we feel stuck, helpless. It's not necessarily the feeling of being lost like the wandering sheep in the first parable, but it's a different kind of lost. It can feel hopeless, not just aimless.
In times like these, we may identify better with the parable of the lost coin. A coin can't actively find its owner, retrace its steps, or even be visible without a light shining on it. In a literal sense, it must simply wait to be found. Now this doesn't justify inaction in our own lives, but it does accurately describe the situation in which many of us find ourselves -- stagnant with lack of motivation, deadened by insensitivity, paralyzed by fear, shrouded by doubt, enslaved to resentment or unforgiveness.
Perhaps we do not feel lost in this way about our life as a whole. Maybe there are only one or two areas in which we feel stuck. Many times we confess the same sins over and over again in the sacrament of reconciliation to the point where one might think we were addicted to sarcasm, impatience, anger, a lack of charity, and more. Oftentimes we know that Jesus wants us to turn back to him, that he is seeking us diligently like the woman in the parable, but do we really believe this in our heart? Do we truly believe that we are so valuable, so worthy, so loved, that Jesus would search in the dust and darkness until he finds us? Do we believe that we wants even the tiniest crevices of darkness to be His, to be illuminated by his compassionate mercy?
A silver coin may not seem that valuable to us when we read this story because almost every American coin is silver in color. But in Jesus' time, one silver coin was an entire day's wage. So we must ask ourselves if we believe that we are so valuable and irreplaceable in the Lord's eyes that He would care about us even though there are nine others, even though there is an entire world of His sons and daughters for Him to love. Yes, Jesus did die and rise to save all of humanity. But he also died and rose specifically for you. He would do it all over again just for you because he loves you that much.
He has lit his lamp and is shining it in every area of your house. He is clearing the dust and the cobwebs and getting dirty in the midst of all your sin just to bring you back, to give you hope, to give you freedom! St. Paul tells us "where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom" (2 Cor 3:17) so let us pray fervently: Come Holy Spirit, and fill my heart and soul with your light and truth. Enkindle in me the fire of your love, and transform me every day to be more like your most beautiful spouse, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Show me where I am lost and stuck in darkness, give me the grace to desire your Love, and give me strength to respond to my call to holiness. Where you are there is freedom, so I give everything I am to you. I thank you and praise you for everything. In Jesus' name, amen.
