Today's Gospel in Art: There will be rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner

Illustration for Paradiso by Dante Alighieri, Gustave Doré © Alamy

Source: Christian Art

14 November 2021 - 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.' So he spoke this parable to them:

'What man among you with a hundred sheep, losing one, would not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the missing one till he found it? And when he found it, would he not joyfully take it on his shoulders and then, when he got home, call together his friends and neighbours? "Rejoice with me," he would say "I have found my sheep that was lost." In the same way, I tell you, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine virtuous men who have no need of repentance.

'Or again, what woman with ten drachmas would not, if she lost one, light a lamp and sweep out the house and search thoroughly till she found it? And then, when she had found it, call together her friends and neighbours? "Rejoice with me," she would say "I have found the drachma I lost." In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one repentant sinner.'

Reflection on the Engraving

The angels in 'The Man of Sorrows' by Botticelli which we looked at yesterday, reminded me of this engraving by Gustave Doré (1832-1883). In yesterday's painting the angels were carrying the Arma Christi, or the instruments of the Passion. In today's print, the angels are carrying Christ's cross into Paradise. Around 1855 Doré planned to illustrate the whole of Dante's Divine Comedy. He worked on many of the initial engravings but found no publisher. So he himself financed the publication of the first book of the series, Inferno, in 1861. The impact was immediate and the original folio got immediately reprinted. By 1868, also the Purgatorio and Paradiso (our illustration is from this volume) were published. Gustave Doré's illustrations of Dante's Divine Comedy are so instantly recognisable, that they have even influenced the way we 'picture' the Divine Comedy when reading it.

In our Gospel reading today, Jesus says that 'there will be rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner'. And this rejoicing will happen, because through His very sacrifice on the cross, Jesus conquered sin and death. To have heaven rejoice over one repentant sinner shows how much God loves us. Actually the very word 'rejoice' is a beautiful word. It means to delight, to be happy, to exult, to feel happiness. 'Rejoice' is made up of two parts: joice / joy proceeded by the word 're'. Re etymologically means to bring back or to go back to the original place. So when we rejoice for example during Mass, we are being brought joyfully 'back to the original place' where we come from: God.

God is reaching out to each one of us to work in our hearts and help us repent by drawing us closer to Him. Repentance is just a step, but already such a major step that there will be rejoicing in heaven. God already knows all our sins anyway, so why would we hold back and not repent!

LINKS

Today's story - https://christian.art/en/daily-gospel-reading/980
Christian Art - www.christian.art/