Catechesis Notes for the Week — The Power and Blessing of the Lord’s Forgiving Grace—(This week’s Bible Stories from the Gospel of Luke) A Man is Healed on the Sabbath illustrates the true doctrine of Christian worship. The Sabbath, which means rest, is not about doing something for God to earn His favor, but receiving the rest, healing, salvation, and forgiveness that only He can give. Jesus’ healing on the Sabbath is exactly what He does in the Divine Service. The Great Supper teaches us that “the call of the Gospel to receive salvation in Christ is like an invitation which is rejected because people have ‘more important things to do.’ Those who are helpless and needy receive the invitation and believe the Gospel.  Those who believe they have no need reject the invitation and are excluded from salvation.” The Lost Sheep teaches us that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save the lost sinner who was not worth saving. Jesus’ passion to save the single lost soul is illustrated in this parable in which a man does the unthinkable: He leaves the many to rescue the one.  This work delights the Lord and all of heaven.” The Lost Coin follows the theme of the Lost Sheep and teaches us that “Jesus’ desire to save the lost sinner is like a woman who is possessed with an obsessive desire to find something she has lost, and not to rest until she does.  The Lord and His angels have no greater joy than the salvation of a sinner.” The Prodigal Son is the third parable in this sequence and “teaches us about God, whose grace toward the fallen seems irresponsible and wasteful, and that all Christians live by the grace of God alone without any merit or worthiness in them.” Very simply, this parable teaches us that “The love of God in Christ calls prodigal Christians back to their baptism.” Friday celebrates the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, a woman whose undying affection for Jesus was inspired out of the gift of salvation she had received from Jesus who delivered her from demonic affliction. CP220717