Micah 7:14-15, 18-20 / Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
There is a movie shown some time back and the title is "The Usual Suspects".
Not that I have seen the movie, so I really don't know what it was all about, but it was the title that caught my attention.
"The Usual Suspects". That phrase says a lot about our presuppositions and assumptions about people and what we think about them.
In the gospel, we can say that the tax collectors and those who were seeking the company of Jesus were the "usual" sinners. And Jesus welcomed them and even eats with them.
Not only was that unusual for the scribes and Pharisees, it also annoyed and irritated them, and they questioned and criticized Jesus for that.
Because in their minds, sinners should be left in their sin, and repentance and conversion and forgiveness is out of the question.
Yes, there are many instances in the Old Testament where there is punishment in store for sinners.
But when it comes to repentance and conversion, what would God usually do?
The 1st reading says this of God: What god can compare with you: taking fault away, pardoning crime, not cherishing anger for ever, but delighting in showing mercy.
Yes, that is what God will usually do. There is nothing unusual about that. And when it comes to our turn to ask for mercy and forgiveness for our sins, let us believe in what God will usually do.