"Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you"
Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32
The Word: http://usccb.org/bible/readings/033119-yearc.cfm
The painting to the right is the well-known depiction
of our extraordinary Gospel story from Luke this Sunday: The Prodigal Son. The Dutch artist Rembrandt painted this as
the second of two he did: one when he was younger and this one as an older man.
However, this depiction is more poignant and tender.
The wayward son returns, dressed in rags, even missing one
shoe, with his head shaved as if he did indeed spend away absolutely everything. While the father, an old nearly elderly
grandfather image, leans down with a face of tenderness near tears, to embrace
the son who had caused him such humiliation and shame. Meanwhile, the older son stands above the two figures, lurking dismissively at his younger brother. Knowing the story Jesus
told which is portrayed here causes one to ask – How could any earthly parent
be so forgiving? Why would any parent
forgive so unquestionably? But
first.
Our second reading this Sunday and the stunning Gospel story
which Jesus tells, reveals the very heart of God and the Good News which Jesus
preached. At the base of our sacrament of reconciliation is this truth. Paul,
speaking to his Christian converts at Corinth reminds them: “Whoever is in Christ Jesus is a new
creation; the old things have passed away; behold new things have come . . .
Christ has given us the ministry of reconciliation . . .” (2 Cor 5: 17-18).
Paul gives us a theological explanation. We are called to build
bridges, as God has done for us between himself and humanity, which is one
image of reconciliation. Reconciliation is a process of conversion and the
great sacrament of healing, or confession, invites us to walk into that process
before a merciful God. Any priest should be there not as judge and jury but in
the person of Christ, the divine physician who heals the wounded.
This leads to our Gospel from Luke 15 which makes that process
a deeply personal one. For me, and I know for many, many more the story of the
“Prodigal Son” or the “Forgiving Father” or any other variation on that title
you may want to offer, is not only a brilliant cast of characters but deeply
moving on a faith level. It is rich with
character development and questions our own view of God and our ultimate
response to God’s almost over the top mercy. The tender Rembrandt painting is
rich with this symbolism.
In telling this story, Jesus deliberately, I suspect, left the
end hanging with the Father’s challenging statement to the jealous older
brother: “My son . . . 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.” (Lk 15:
32). How the older son reacted to this
statement is left unanswered. Did he come around and join the party? Did he
walk away in disgust? Did he also ask
his Father to forgive him for his petty jealousy? It invites us to our own self-examination.
How would I feel and what would I do?
Further, the setting in which Jesus told this story is
significant to our understanding. Luke
reminds us: “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.’” (Lk
15: 1). Jesus was constantly berated for his association with the
undesirables. And among his worst
critics were, of course, those so hardened in their own self-righteousness,
that they had closed their minds to God’s mercy, like the older brother.
Regardless, Jesus invites
specifically this crowd, who are invited to see themselves in the older son, to
open their hearts and minds. It invites every one of us to ask ourselves the
same question about which of the two sons do I find in myself. The answer for most of us is that I see both
sons in me. Our God is like the Father
in the story who waits for us to come home with open arms. He longs for our
return with love and mercy, not judgment and condemnation.
It’s most shocking for me that the son was so brazen as to ask
his father for his inheritance long before his father was ready to pass on. Almost
pathologically without any shame he approaches his father. Even more startling
is that the father gave him all he requested!
The son goes off and does everything he can to embarrass his father’s
good reputation and his family name, not to mention his own integrity. Finally,
in desperation, having reached the ultimate bottom with nowhere else to turn,
he plans his return to the same father he had so appallingly treated and beg
for forgiveness. What caused him to be so repentant – desperation and guilt: “Coming to his senses,” Jesus teaches.
However imperfect his repentance was, at least it motivated him to return.
I’d like to imagine that Jesus paused here for a moment and
looked intently at the crowd around him to study their faces. He may have allowed a moment of dead silence.
What will the father do and say to his irresponsible son? Did the most critical
among them begin to break down?
Then our Lord continues with the most unanticipated reaction of
the father: “While he (the son) was still
a long way off, his father caught sign of him, and was filled with compassion.
He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.” Without a word from the
father in the story, Jesus proclaims what God is like and how he desires that
we come home and remain in the family. The son might have spent everything away
but that’s only “stuff.” The greater value is the person, most especially one
who repents. (Have you gotten the point
Pharisees that Jesus may be thinking of you?) This is why our Lord reached out
constantly to those who were branded as “sinners.”
With robes and rings and a party to boot the son finds himself
back in the good graces of his family.
Then, the elder son appears and throws a wet towel on the
festivities. “I’ve been the good and
obedient son. Am I not the responsible
and respectful “apple of your eye?” He doesn’t even name his brother but refers
to him as “your son.” What’s with this party?
You never did that for me!
On one level, the party may seem a bit over the tope but it
makes the point of celebration over one who repents. The older son is so
blinded by jealousy, competition, and his own sense of his goodness, that he
misses the point of what his father is like.
So, the father reminds him of how generous and fair he has always been. Yet, more importantly at this moment to rejoice
in the new life his younger brother has found: “He was dead and has come to life again.” He’s changed, not the same
person he was. Like an almost Ebeneezer
Scrooge kind of transformation it is cause to give thanks.
Then the story ends.
Again, I imagine Jesus looked more intently than before at his listeners
who likely were stunned by the father’s behavior. Hopefully, though, also moved so deeply that
they saw themselves in the two sons and in particular the most stubborn among
them began to soften their own pride which blinded them to see the expansive
nature of God.
Are we moved in the same way?
We should be indeed. Does it seem
too good to be true? Is God really this
blind to our sin? Yes and no perhaps. God
does not ignore sin but he sees our dignity in spite of that and desires our
conversion. Where am I in this story?
How willing am I to “come to my senses?” What will be the key that will
change me? Here, the story doesn’t end
for us; it only begins. Yet what about those in jails and prisons? What about those on death row? You answer that in light of this story.
We find it in the sacrament of reconciliation, the holy
Eucharist, the scriptures, our shared faith and prayer. But we must become the
father in our daily encounter with each other.
In the middle of this rich journey through Lent we may have
found our personal need to return to the Father. Go to be reconciled with the Father in
sacramental confession. He is waiting
for you . . .
For you do not cease to spur us on
to possess a more abundant life
and, being rich in mercy,
you constantly offer pardon
and call on sinners
to trust in your forgiveness alone.
(Preface: Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation I)
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