Year C – Fourth Sunday of Lent
The dominant theme of the Scriptures today is ‘Reconciliation’.
In the Second reading St. Paul describes very beautifully the work that God has done through Christ, reconciling the world to himself, and people to each other. To do this God executes a profound reversal, making Christ “to be sin who did not know sin” and because of this, and because of this we who are sinners “might become the righteousness of God.”
This acts as a commentary on the Gospel story, the story of “The Prodigal Son”, one of the best known and best loved of all the parables of Jesus. The story however if really about two sons, because the elder son has an important part to play in the story, as well as his younger brother, and also their father. The story is about immaturity, stupidity, selfishness, rebellion, love, forgiveness, reconciliation, celebration, resentment, jealousy, trust, joy. Somewhere in the tale we might be able to can see ourselves.
Here are some thoughts about each of the family members:
The Younger Son
When the younger son leaves, the father doesn't say "don't go" but he allows the son to leave, knowing that the son may suffer and be at risk, but he respects his freedom. Leaving and returning happens often in life, so what are those events for you?
It is necessary for grown children to leave the parental home. This leaving is a desire to claim and know yourself, which is a necessary task for achieving maturity. However, this seeking of self-knowledge will have several - probably painful - false starts. Remember that you are loved even if you make mistakes. Trust that the adventures of life are molding you into the person you are called to be, though it may not be clear at the time. All that happens should be received gratefully as an opportunity to grow in wisdom, love and hope. The journey is one towards intimacy with God, turning from fear to love.
The younger son's return home begins at the moment when he realizes that he has lost everything but the most important thing. He is still the son of his father, and he still belongs. The son had written a script of self-hatred for himself. He cannot "put on the clothes" of sonship - the old man must clothe him. We can be in a situation where we cannot see our self-worth or dignity. We need someone who loves us more than we love ourselves to restore it. At the moment we judge ourselves to be unworthy, this reality which has been pursuing us is clothing us. There is an inclusive and pursuing love at the heart of human life which loves us more than we love ourselves, which spends itself for our welfare. All our fears can be faced by opening up to this love.
There is a dominant image or sense in the story of safety, and of return to the place where it is safe. The "womb of God" is the safest place. There is fear, anxiety and insecurity around us, but the spiritual life is to discover that there is safety for us. In order to be strong, to take risks, to do new things, we have to continually return to this place.
God will never put us deliberately into pain, but God says to us that if we cut loose from our true selves, leave our true home, our suffering will be profound. That is why the father is overjoyed to see the return of the son - he is reconnected with the source of his life.
The Elder Son
The elder son who did the "good thing" and stayed home with his father is just as lost spiritually as his younger brother, but in a different way. He is bound by resentment, which fills him with anger. It is "angry virtue". He believes he has to earn the father's friendship. The wrongdoing of the younger son is very clear-cut and visible. The resentment of the elder is not so visible. It can be covered by the appearance of a holy, dutiful life. It can lie hidden deep within a person.
The father comes out of the party to find the elder son. The story could have ended as the party began. However, the Father comes out to the elder son because his inclusive love and invitation will not allow neither the resentment of the elder brother nor the self-hatred of the younger to spoil the party. For a party cannot be a true celebration if all are not included.
The Father
Jesus spoke in parables about Fathers and Kings, familiar figures his hearers, but Jesus' Fathers and Kings confounded people's expectations. The Father Jesus portrays was a strange Father; he didn't make judgments about people but was full of inexhaustible and inclusive love.
In this parable the Father does several mind-boggling things: He gives away his money before he is dead. He makes himself penniless in his care for his two sons. Then he waits for the son who took the money and ran. He even goes out to look for him every day, and finally runs to him when he appears, abandoning his precious oriental dignity.
One of the main characteristics of the father is letting the sons go - each to his own way - and forgiving them. He doesn't say, "you did this to me, and now you must pay me back." Love is there for them whether they are at home or away. The story leaves the listeners with some uncomfortable questions of who is "in" and who is "out". The symbol and image of Father for Jesus meant inclusiveness and invitation.
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