LENT REFLECTION

Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

The Prodigal Son and the Merciful Father

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.'”

1. Our Lord Jesus Christ is a superb story teller. He tells the best stories ever told. And through them, He teaches fundamental messages. These unforgettable stories are the very best ways to convey the message.

2. In today’s Parable, Jesus explains God’s deep love for us all, including the worst sinners imaginable. Luke 15 is about God’s mercy to the worst kinds of sinners, to those lost, to those excluded from society for not being good or holy enough.

3. God will go out of His way to seek and rescue even just one sinner. He forgives us and welcomes us back with a banquet, no matter the grave severity or uncountable number of our sins. His mercy is greater. Pope Francis used to say that God’s name is Mercy. We should have every confidence to return to God, knowing He will forgive us. We return to Him because we know of His deep abiding love that never stops and never fails.

4. The young brother did the worst things imaginable and broke many commandments. He wished his dad dead. He took his dad’s possessions. He lived a life of debauchery. And being a Jew, he still fed pigs! But he eventually did one thing right. He remembered. He remembered his dad’s love and generosity, and decided to return to him. We do well to look at the Cross always and remember God’s stupendous love for each and everyone of us. Our Lord gave everything, His very life, for us. He did it for us, so that we may know God’s love for us.

5. Our Lord would like us to rejoice with God the Father and with Him, and with the Holy Spirit, and with all the Angels and Saints, whenever a sinner repents, at every conversion, at every return of prodigal sons and daughters. We should never be like the self-righteous pharisees and scribes, the older brother, who have a sense of entitlement, who want to keep others away from salvation. We should never judge ourselves to be holy and entitled to God, and others to be sinners and to be cast out, and to be unworthy of God’s love, mercy and forgiveness.

6. We should also welcome those who live lives of sin and only come around much later. St Augustine was converted only later in his life, after a life of debauchery; being baptised at the age of 33 by Bishop St Ambrose at the Easter Vigil of 387 CE.

7. Our Lord Jesus Christ was greatly pained by the self-righteousness of the Pharisees and scribes, and their refusal to reach out to sinners. We should never cause Him more grief by being self-righteous ourselves, and refusing to welcome those considred sinners. We should help everyone to be saved, to find God. And we can then rejoice greatly at every conversion, every baptism, every good act; greatly thanking God for His deep-deep love and mercy.