Gospel: Luke, 15:1-32
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 he addressed this parable. “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance. “Or what woman having ten coins and losing one would not light a lamp and sweep the house, searching carefully until she finds it? And when she does find it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’
In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Then he said, “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
Quite recently a young girl came to see me. She was in deep despair and wanted to commit suicide. She was pregnant and was afraid to tell her parents. In her own words, “My parents will disown me and throw me out of the home.” Added to her fear of her parents was the fact that the boy who was the father of her child was questioning if he was in fact the father and wanted her to do a paternity test. She even asked me if she could stay with me, so great was her distress. I offered to speak to her parents which I did and I found them to be, after the initial surprise and disappointment, far more understanding than their daughter thought they would be. In their own words, “She is our daughter and while we are disappointed we do love her. There is no question of her going elsewhere.”
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I thought of this incident as I began my meditation on the Gospel passage given to us this week for our meditation. It is the parable known as the Parable of the prodigal son. I checked the meaning of the word ‘prodigal’ in the Oxford dictionary and found that one of the meanings is ‘lavish’. I thought to myself that this parable could also be known as the parable of the ‘prodigal father’ for the father in this story is lavish in forgiving.
The story we know very well. It is a story that is repeated very often in life. It is the story of children who spend in a wasteful manner all that their parents have worked hard to accumulate over the years. Parents, often enough, if this occurs while they are still alive, reach a point of exasperation in which they refuse to honour their children’s debt and let them face the music hoping that their children will learn a lesson from the consequences of their behaviour. And even if the children learn the required lesson, they very often remain in the doghouse for many years. In the parable which we are meditating the young man who has wasted his father’s money on wine, women and song, does indeed learn the required lesson. “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.”The young man has learnt that his behaviour has consequences and that he can no longer take it for granted that he will be treated as a son.
The Father is different however. He never tires of waiting for his son. “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”. There is no mention of restitution, the Father’s only concern is that his son be seen and recognized as his son. “Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.” The Father is lavish in his forgiveness.
What a lesson for us who find it hard to forgive!
The big problem for all of us and perhaps the greatest is that we often conceive of God in our own image. If we find difficulty in forgiving, we think that God is like us and because of that we find it hard to approach God to ask for forgiveness. God however, like the prodigal Father, is always ready to forgive and waits anxiously on us as the father in the parable waited anxiously on his son. God never tires of forgiving us; it is we who tire of approaching God. It is we who believe that God is not as prodigal as the father in the parable. A look at the lives of many of the saints will tell us that many saints experienced the prodigal Father in God. The list is long, beginning with the thief on the cross who heard Christ’s words, “Today you will be with me in paradise”, to St. Peter who denied Christ, and Augustine, who would write “Too late have I known thee. Too late have I loved thee.” These three and many more experienced God as the Father who is lavish in forgiving. May we not tire of approaching our Prodigal Father certain that our Father will clasp us to his breast whenever we return to HIM seeking forgiveness.
Prayer
All powerful and ever-forgiving God, I thank you for reminding us that you are not a God who is intent on punishing us but a God who in your great mercy is always willing to forgive. We are not and will never be perfect and so we need your great mercy. Help us never to tire of coming to you remembering that it is your mercy which sustains us and that at the end of our lives all that we will have to offer You is your great mercy. We ask this through the intercession of Mary, our Mother and Jesus your Son. Amen
