(Homily for the 4th Sunday of Lent Yr. C)
In the Lenten Period the word or
vocabulary that resounds and reechoes in the Liturgy, is the word: Conversion. The
word conversion in today’s Gospel (Lk.
15: 1-3.11-32) forms the pivot around which every other word or theme revolves.
The parable we heard today in the Gospel, is a parable with many facets, and as
such could be meditated upon, reflected or contemplated from different angles.
Sometimes it is called the parable of the Prodigal son, some call it that of
the Merciful father, others call it parable of the unforgiving brother and few
others call it parable of the repentant son. But a closer look at the parable
reveals that the father is the central actor, his actions, reactions and
gestures are of paramount importance even to the homecoming of the repentant
son, especially when considered as a response to the Scribes and the Pharisees.
The attitude of the father towards the
son signifies what God does for us when we stray, when we abandon God or when
we relegate Him to the background. God never abandons sinners, for He says:
“by considering and turning himself away
from all his iniquities…he shall certainly live, and shall not die” (Ex. 18:28). Again, the psalmist
questions: “If you kept a record of our sins, Lord, who could stand their
ground?” (Ps. 130:3). Jeremiah
speaks of the freshness of God’s mercy: “Surely Yahweh’s mercies are not over,
his deeds of faithful love not exhausted; every morning they are renewed; great
is his faithfulness” (Lam. 3:22-23).
Before we continue in our reflection, let us situate ourselves well into the
context of this parable. The context of the parable as it was presented by St.
Luke is: that the publicans and sinners came to listen to Jesus, while the
scribes and the Pharisees were murmuring, accusing Jesus of receiving and
eating with sinners and outcasts. Then, in order to correct this erroneous
impression Jesus narrated the parable.
Reflecting on this parable, we see that
there are four figures: Jesus, the merciful father, the repentant son (called
the prodigal son), the elder brother (the Big brother).
●Jesus: in the first verses of the passage we
see the attitude of Jesus towards sinners and publicans, it is not only that
Jesus does not condemn them, but he ate with them. Jesus does not condemn sinners, he condemns sin. He condemns not the
person, but the act. What in a nutshell is sin? Sin is the abandonment of
God for idles, it is a refusal of God’s love. Jeremiah captured it vividly
well, when he opined: “For my people have committed two crimes: they have
abandoned me, the fountain of living water, and dug water-tanks from
themselves, cracked water-tanks, that cannot hold water” (Jer. 2:13). As it is demonstrated in the Gospel, Jesus destroyed the mental scheme of the
scribes and Pharisees, for their interrogation and murmuring gave rise to
Jesus’s exposition of the Father’s love and mercy towards sinners.
●The father: the
father in that parable demonstrated unlimited love and concern towards his son.
And this father represents God who never abandons sinners to their fate, but He waits trustingly and expectantly for the
return of the prodigal son, in order to welcome, pardon and reinstate him in
his dignity as son. He went out twice to see if the son is on his way. This
is exactly what God does for us, no matter how notorious a sinner might be, God
is ready to welcome and reinstate him in the filial dignity (as son). God not
only forgives our sins, he also retains our position as his children (sons and
daughters). He continues to come out in
search of us!
●The repentant
son (prodigal son): is a representation
of the sinful man who strays from God, in fact, we can say that he is the
representation of all of us. He is symbolic of one who deceives oneself
thinking that he will be better outside and far away from the father’s house.
He requested for his own share of his father’s property, and afterwards he went
to squander the money, but later he
discovered that true freedom cannot be realized away from home, from the one
who gives us all we have. From the spiritual standpoint, we say that
true and authentic freedom cannot be realized away from the Liberator, from the
freedom-Giver (God). In our society today, this attitude of the prodigal
son is repeated by many, it is seen in those who think that they can be
realized as persons away from God. Today, you hear slogans like: “I don’t need
God, I have all I need”, “if there is God, it does not change anything”, it is
not true He changes everything! It is
worthy to note that in the experience of the prodigal son there was a “before”
and an “after”. A “before” of distancing himself from the father, of
abandoning the father; and an “after” of recognizing his limits and sinful act,
and therefore decides to go back home. “I will arise, and go to my father…” Waoh!
There is hope for us! We need a humble recognition of our sins, “we have
sinned, we have committed sacrilege; Lord our God, we have broken all your
precepts” (Bar. 2:12).
●The elder
brother or better the big brother: the big brother is ungrateful, egoistic and
jealous. He appears to be “all good”,
but in reality his heart is far from the father. In fact, we can say that the big brother represent
the scribes and the Pharisees who were murmuring against Jesus’ attitude
towards sinners. He is unhappy; he accuses and passes judgment on the
brother, even given us information that was
not heard elsewhere, that the brother spent the money with his women. But
he can also represent us (you and I): if we find it difficult to show mercy to
others, when we do not rejoice for the repentance of sinners, when we do not
appreciate the precious gift of being in the father’s house (those active
Christians who murmur against the so called passive ones). Many a times, we
call ourselves Christians but we find it difficult to appreciate the handiwork
of others, we criticize others, we always tend to find the fault of others,
ignoring our own faults. The syndrome of
the Big brother, is that of not looking inward in himself, but he ‘projects’
towards others. He was a good observant of law, of the rules of the house:
“Behold, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your
command…”, he respected all the rules
but he lacked love, he was pharisaic in his relationship with the father.
He remained with the mentality of the Judaic law of retribution, but the father
was inviting him to employ the law of merciful love. We are called to be servants of mercy like the servants of the father,
and not judges of mercy! At the heart of the parable, the Father came out
to meet the son, to stand where he (son) was in order to bring him back home. Similarly, God in Christ came out to meet
the sinful humanity. He still comes out to bring us back home!
In
the second reading (2Cor. 5:17-21)
interestingly St. Paul makes an appeal to the same people he called “a new
creation”, to be reconciled to Christ. This
appeal boils down to the existential fact that the community’s status as the
new creation is by no means an assured possession (just like the prodigal son’s
sonship is not a mere given), instead it is something that requires continuous
effort. And the renewal of that status is the apostolic ministry of
reconciliation. It is indeed, God’s saving act in Christ. St. Paul brings to
our consideration the theme of reconciliation. He re-proposes the central
message of the Lenten period: “in the name of Christ we appeal to you to be
reconciled to God” (v.20). St. Paul
goes beyond the parable, for he assures us that God has already reconciled with
us through Jesus Christ (vv. 18-19).
Jesus is the sacrament of reconciliation
personified “for God made him who did not sin to be sin for us” (v. 21). He continued, “We beg you in
the name of Christ reconcile with God” (v.20),
that is, make yourselves available to his love. Paul affirmed, “We are
ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us”. Indeed, the
reconciliation of man with God comes through the ministry of the church. In the
parable, the prodigal son went directly to the father and said I have sinned,
but St. Paul here introduces the historical mediation of Christ and the
sacramental mediation of the Church. Through the word of God and the
sacraments, especially the sacrament of reconciliation (confession) the Church
continues to reconcile us and the Father. But
how often do we realize our separation with God and decide to go back to Him
like the repentant sinner. “I will arise”, today take the decision and
arise, go to confession! Reconcile with God!
God
in his invitation to reconciliation does not impose himself, and he does not
invite through coercion, rather he waits for our decisive response to his gift
of love. In the book of the Revelation the image of God that is presented
is the image of one who stands outside the door and knocks, and therefore he
does not enter if you refuse to open, “look, I am standing at the door
knocking. If one of you hears me calling and opens the door, I will come in and
dine with him, and he with me” (Rev.
3:20).
The
first reading (Jos. 5:9.10-12) presents
glaringly the reconciliation that St. Paul was talking about as God’s
initiative. God said to Joshua: “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt
from you”, that is, the long, painful and humiliating slavery in Egypt. And the
people of Israel for the first time in full freedom celebrate their Passover in
the Promised Land. The interesting and
consoling message of the first reading is that every difficult situation, every
problem, all adversities have expiring date; just as it happened in the
case of the slavery of the Israelites and in the experience of the prodigal son.
Above all else, however, we are reminded that God is always and ever
ready to liberate us from our moral and spiritual slavery, but we have to
reconcile with Him. And reconciling with Him entails leaving from that “our
distant country”, and that distant country is a place or a thing, it can even be
a person that alienates us from God; our vices, our sinful life, those things
and persons that do not allow us to be real children of God. What is your own
distant country? Have you discovered it? If you have, then, leave! Begin a
journey of homecoming. In all, the readings of today, especially the Gospel is
an invitation to every sinner to turn back to God. To start up his/her journey
back to God, ready to show remorse and say like the repentant son “I will arise
and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against
heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son…”. May we
make a passage from this beautiful parable to real life, to our real condition
now. If you are like the prodigal son, go back home. If you are like the elder
brother, stop being judgmental, rather show mercy, remain where you are and be
contented! Happy Sunday Friends!
(Fr. Vitus M. C. Unegbu, SC)
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