Gospel Lk 15:1-3, 11-32
Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So to them Jesus addressed this parable: “A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father, ‘Father give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’ So the father divided the property between them. After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation. When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need. So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine. And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any. Coming to his senses he thought, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger. I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”’ So he got up and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.’ But his father ordered his servants, ‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.’ Then the celebration began. Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean. The servant said to him, ‘Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him. He said to his father in reply, ‘Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’ He said to him, ‘My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’”
Homily
All of us have heard over and over again that Lent is the period in the calendar of the Church in which we dedicate ourselves to personal transformation. Unfortunately year after year we have tried but the evidence of personal transformation remains very slight. Indeed many of us have given up hope of ever being transformed. To be people of transformation however, both of ourselves and others, we must be people of hope.
The Gospel passage given to us this week for our reflexion is a Gospel story that is very well known to all of us. We know it as a story of an ungrateful son and a very generous father. That is true and all of us can relate to experiences like that. We all know stories of ungrateful children and of extremely generous parents.
There is another aspect of the story however, one which is at the centre of this story, but one which we seldom think about. It is a story of loss and recovery. (At last three times in the story the son is referred to as having been lost and having been found.) It is a story of shame and despair contrasted to one of never ending hope. In the end both Father and Son recover what they have lost because the Father never gave up hope.
We know the story very well; the son who takes his inheritance and goes off on his own. He probably feels that the father doesn’t understand life. He wants to be where the action is. He gives up the system of values that he was taught by his parents and as so often happens, he loses everything. He soon discovers that the world he has embraced, that world full of excitement and adventure is a cruel world. Even his associates have no time for him. He is reduced to looking after pigs, and the animals are even treated better than he is. For the Jews pigs were unclean. He has reached the dregs. He is worse of than these unclean animals, the pigs.
The story continues. He comes to his senses; he decides to go back to his father, not as a son but as a servant. As far as he is concerned, his son-ship is lost forever. He can no longer aspire to be a son. Then the story shifts to the Father; He has never given up hope of getting back his son. We are told that when his son was “still a long way off”, he recognized him. Remember the son had come from feeding pigs, he was probably dirty, in need of a bath, and a shampoo etc. Yet in that vagrant, the Father recognized his son. We are told “he ran to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him tenderly” The Boy is convinced that he can no longer be a Son, that He can never get back what he had. He says “I no longer deserve to be called your son.” But the Father forgives everything. There is no talk of his son having to ask pardon, there is no talk of vengeance, there is no talk of the son having to pay back, there is just giving the Son his dignity as Son once again. We can say that the hope of recovering his Son, made the Father be on the lookout for any trace of his Son and when he saw a trace of his son, he did everything possible to transform that vagrant back into a Son.
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All of us have lost important things in life. WE have lost good friends through misunderstandings etc. Have we been like the father on the lookout for any little sign of a bettering in relations so that we could do all that is necessary to win back that friend, or has our attitude been that of the son, the friendship is lost and that is the end of it. Or we may have lost our health. Do we do all that is necessary to regain it?
Or we may have lost our virtue. Do we just say. I am a sinner, God can never forgive me. Or do I do all that is necessary to regain my virtue. We may have lost that innocence which made us pure of heart. We have become cynical. What do we do about that?
But most important of all, God never gives up hope of winning us for himself. That is the message of Good Friday and Easter. Today let us thank God, for those who give us the example of never losing hope, Saints like Monica who did everything that she could for 19 years to recover her son Augustine. Let us thank God for people in our community who struggle with the departure of children or a spouse, but who hold on to their hope, ready to do whatever is necessary to win back their loved ones. But let us pray also for those who struggle to hold on to their hope. Let us support them with our prayer. And let us pray for ourselves, that our attitude will always be that of the Father, always attentive to the signs that something or someone may be recoverable and doing all that is necessary for their recovery
We must also ask ourselves what we have lost as a Diocese and as a community of disciples. Have we lost a grip on the founding intuition of our faith so that it no longer inspires our lives?
That intuition which tells us that Christ walked this earth as the servant of harmony, that he died and rose again and continues to work through us so that Harmony will be regained (The New Jerusalem). What will we do to recover it?
Prayer
All powerful and ever-loving God, we thank you for the Good News given us today in this gospel passage. Help us to recognize it as Good News; help us to believe it so that we may always believe in your desire that we be saved. Grant us the grace always to come to our senses and return to You, secure in the knowledge that You want our salvation. Help us never to lose hope either for ourselves or for others and help; us to do the things which hope demands. We ask this through the intercession of Mary our mother and your Son, Jesus. Amen
