The Gospel parable today is perhaps the most familiar of all the Gospel parables: The Parable of the Prodigal Son. In my own prayer life over the years, I have seen myself at various times as the prodigal son, the older brother, and I have prayed that I have witnessed to the Forgiving Father. As we prepare to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation in this Lenten season, may we know and experience the forgiving love of the Father as Jesus so beautifully describes in this Parable which could be more rightly called as the Parable of the Forgiving Father.
Today I invite to reflect on the beginning of the parable – simply the first five rather harmless words of the parable: “A man had two sons.”
There was the younger son who had run away, blew all his inheritance, and acted totally irresponsibly, and then there was the older son who stayed home, budgeted his money and did all that was asked of him. The sons were as different as night and day. Yet, despite their differences, they shared the same father. Though poles apart in personalities, they could not escape the fact that they were brothers. They were family. And so, the parable begins: “A man had two sons.”
This parable invites us to look at other groups that are poles apart and perhaps disdain each other at times: Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, blacks and whites, rich and poor, Vatican II Catholics and more traditional Catholics, undocumented immigrants and legal citizens and so on and so on.
Think of someone who is different from you, someone that you complain about. The next time you gripe about him or her; imagine that Jesus would say to you, “A man had two sons.” What is the message here? From the perspective of our loving and forgiving Father, we are brothers and sisters to each other. We are family. May we treasure that we are all God’s beloved sons and daughters. God our Father loves each and every one of us, and we are called to witness to the Father’s love to one and all.
I confess that people are able to get under my skin at times. Perhaps this is true of yourselves as well. What would it take for us to see those who are different from us, with those who we disagree with, with those who have disappointed us and perhaps those who have even hurt us, what would it take for us to let go our negativity toward them and see them as part of our family, to see them as our brothers and sisters. Clearly, it is only with the grace of God that we can move beyond our negativity to a place of love and forgiveness. This is the grace we seek. This is the grace we seek.
Further we are to extend our love and forgiveness in a spirit of joy, rather than begrudgingly extending a handshake. Traditionally this Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent, is known by its Latin name: Laetare. Laetare is the Latin word for rejoice. There is to be joy in our lives as the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Gospel gives us a most significant reason for joy. Jesus tells us of a God who wishes to shower his sons and daughters with his merciful love.
In this gospel parable, I invite you to consider the stuck point for both the prodigal son and the older brother. Both sons had a falling out with their father. The younger was lost in sin and the older son is lost in self-righteousness. Neither was filled with joy.
The younger son didn’t see what he had. He imagined that he could have a better life away from his father and family. That son broke away after demanding his inheritance. The younger son seems irresponsible, pleasure-oriented, and self-seeking.
The older son also did not see what he had. However, this son stayed home and did what was expected of him. The older brother is very responsible and stays at home and works on the farm faithfully day in and day out, but his heart is not in it. Inside, he had been jealous of his brother, who had the nerve to ask for his inheritance and then skipped to squander it on loose living. The point is for the older son, although he did all the right things, there was no joy in his heart.
What about us? Do we experience the joy of the Gospel in our hearts? In our coming to Mass on Sunday, in living a chaste life, in sharing what we have with others, is our spirituality a burden for us and are we secretly jealous of those who live a more reckless life that we do? Does our faith bring joy to our hearts – the experience of laetare – or are we carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders in living a spiritual life?
The sons in the Gospel parable did not see what they already had. Their lives were blessed with the unconditional love their father had for them. Isn’t it true we don’t see at times what we already have? Our lives are blessed. Our God reaches out to us with great love. In fact, there is nothing we can do that will stop God from loving us.
The older brother in this Gospel parable has such a powerful message for us. If there is not joy in the practice of our faith, we do not yet know Jesus in our hearts. Instead of judging what is wrong in our younger’s brother way of living, instead of being judgmental about how others are living, may our focus be on encountering Christ who gives meaning and purpose to our lives.
Yes, we will still experience the suffering and the cross in our Lenten journey and the journey of life. But even the crosses of life will not keep us from the joy of knowing the Lord and wanting to give Him thanks for the ways our lives are blessed.
In our personal prayer and in all the ways we see the face of God in the lives of others, may our Lenten prayer be that we come to know Jesus more deeply in our hearts.
Lord Jesus, help me to know you in my prayer. Lord Jesus help me to know you in my family life.
Have a blessed day.
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