LENT SERIES DAY 18: SATURDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT (Prayer According to Jesus: The Lord's Prayer) (https://youtu.be/ppZ5JTmex8A)
The Father's Love
Brethren, in today's Gospel, Jesus is held guilty of fraternizing and socializing with the wrong kind of people: tax collectors and sinners. The “good people'', i.e. the Pharisees and scribes, were scandalized. In their mind, Jesus had no business keeping company with such deplorable people. They had forgotten the message of the Prophet Micah. Otherwise, they would have known that God was a merciful God, “pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression.” The parable of the “Prodigal Son'' illustrates that perfectly. Today’s sinners can take heart from the fact that their sins will be forgiven the moment they leave the “far country” to return to the Father’s house, the moment they repent. Micah's prayer in the first reading is a prayer asking for mercy and forgiveness from God upon the Israelites. During this lent, this should also be our prayer too, asking God to forgive us and forgive all sinners so that, with them, we may be worthy of receiving the light of Easter.
How can you love someone who turns their back on you and forgive them from the heart? The prophets remind us that God does not abandon us, even if we turn our backs on him (Micah 7:18). He calls us back to himself - over and over and over again. Jesus' story of the father and his two sons (sometimes called the parable of the prodigal son or most preferably, the parable of a merciful Father) is the longest parable in the Gospels where he really portrays the mercifulness of God the Father in heaven.
Many of us may identify ourselves with a younger son, who asked his inheritance, sold it, and scolded all the money in prostitution, though in our different ways. This son insulted his father by asking for the inheritance before his father died as if to say, “You’re worth more to me dead.” He then sold that same property (which the Jews considered to be entrusted to the family by God), an unthinkable sin for the Jews. He liquefied his assets and left the Promised Land, another unthinkable sin from the point of view of the Jews. He then proceeded to squander his money on debauchery. Jesus’s listeners must have been standing there in open-mouthed amazement by the time he finished describing what the son did. They would never dream that someone could commit so many unthinkable sins so fast. The crowning moment? The son ended up feeding pigs, another unthinkable sin for the Jews. He had sunk as low as was possible in Jewish eyes.
However, despite these, the Father’s Reaction is that of Loving More, and of mercy. Instead of being offended by his son’s actions and turning his back on him, this father continued to love him, and do everything he could to welcome his son back. Although he knew where his son was, he didn’t send him money and gifts once things went badly for him. Instead, the father lets his son hit rock bottom in the hope that he would come to his senses, and he did! We know the father was constantly thinking of the son because he saw him while he was still far away, he must have been watching every day, hoping for his return. He cut off the son’s apology; it wasn’t important to him. Instead, he threw a feast. This is not a parable that tells us how to raise teenagers. It is a parable that tells us about our relationship with the eternal Father. When we insult him in the worst ways, he takes it. When we use his gifts to do terrible things, he allows it. When we return, sometimes more for our own well-being than for love of him, he accepts us back not as servants, but as sons and daughters! His reaction to our sinfulness is not anger; it’s to love more.
Sometimes, we may think our sins are unforgivable, but God is always ready to forgive us and welcome us back as his children, if we take a step and come to him. We do this when we come with a contrite heart in confession through the sacrament of reconciliation. During this lent, let us endeavor to go for the sacrament of reconciliation and ask God for his mercy and forgiveness. We pray also that we may not be like the elder son, who was jealous of the return of his brother, let us understand that nothing material is greater than a human being and so we should put our fellow human beings and their wellness at the forefront, this is what God wants.
Let us Pray.
Father, I do sin. I have turned away from You and acted on my own. Now is the time to return to You with an open and honest heart. Give me the courage I need to embrace that love in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Thank You for Your unwavering and perfect love. Father in Heaven, Holy Spirit, and Jesus my Lord. Amen
Be blessed.
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