Readings: Josh 5:9a, 10-12; 2 Cor 5:17-20; Lk 15:1-3, 11-32
In the Gospel reading today, we hear the beautiful story of the love of a father whose son took half of everything the father owned and squandered it all. The young man came to his senses, only after he had descended about as low as one can imagine, and decided to go back to his father’s house and offer himself to be a hired hand. He knew the gravity of what he had done and realized he no longer deserved to be called the son of his father.
Instead of accepting the son’s offer to be a hired hand, the father throws a party in celebration of his son’s return. The father clothed the son in the finest attire and welcomed him back. The father’s other son was quite upset when he learned about his younger brother’s return and the father’s response. This older son might have been more accepting if his younger brother was received as a servant or a hired hand, but to have him back as an equal, as a member of the family, was too much after what his brother had done to his father.
The father tried to reason with his older son saying that they need to rejoice and celebrate because the younger son “was dead and has come back to life again; he was lost and has been found.” I suspect only parents would fully appreciate the father’s reasoning because only parents could have that kind of love for their children. It may be difficult for the other children because they watched the torment their parents endured because of what this child did and they want to protect their parents. Until they have their own children, they may not be able to understand the love of a parent that forgives the profound hurts inflicted upon them by their own children.
When we consider the conversion of sinners, parents can understand our Heavenly Father’s response of joy when a sinner repents. The rest of us, after watching what this brother or sister of ours inflicted upon our loving Father, may be indignant that they now want to come back and be part of the family. If this was our reasoning, it might have a bit of merit. But most of us are not upset because this person is received back and loved by God; rather, like the older brother in the Gospel, we are upset because we see this as an injustice to our own self.
The older son said to his father: “all these years I have 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.” You see, it is not about how the father was treated by the prodigal, it was that the older son felt mistreated because of the joy over the return of his younger brother. The father’s words in response are what we must consider for ourselves: “My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours.”
The inheritance we receive as the children of God is not like the inheritance received from our human parents. In the latter case, the inheritance is divided among the recipients and each person receives a share. In other words, the more recipients there are the less each person receives. On the other hand, as sons and daughters of God, our inheritance is God Himself. If more people share in this inheritance, there is not less for ourselves. God is infinite, so each person who receives this inheritance can receive the fullness of God. The more people there are to receive, the more charity there is for everyone else.
God’s statement from the first reading must be applied to each of us: “Today I have removed the reproach of Egypt from you.” For us, this means God has forgiven our sins and restored us to our place in the family. We did not earn or deserve this; it is purely God’s love given to us. If the reproach of our slavery to sin and Satan has been removed from us and we now know the freedom of the children of God, we should desire this for others as well. More than that, we should rejoice when others repent and turn back to the Lord.
St. Paul summarized his ministry saying, “we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” God is calling each of us to be His “ambassador” in this same way, asking that we pray for those who are separated from our Heavenly Father. And upon their return, we must rejoice, because through your prayers our brother who was dead is alive, he who was lost has been found!
Fr. Altier’s column appears regularly in The Wanderer, a national Catholic weekly published in St. Paul, Minn. For information about subscribing to The Wanderer, please visit www.thewandererpress.com.
