TKelly 4 Lent C 250330
This parable of the Prodigal Son strikes a chord in the human heart because it speaks of the universal experience of separation and of forgiveness.
The three parables that Jesus uses in responding to the Scribes’ accusations that he eats with sinners emphasize the incongruity of forgiveness compared to a justice which weighs and bargains. The mercy of God breaks though all human restrictions on how we think God should act toward sinners. The mercy of God is as foolish as a shepherd who abandons ninety-nine sheep to save one sheep; or the woman who turns her house upside down to recover a coin of little value; or the Jewish father who joyfully welcomes home his son who has become a Gentile. Because our God is so merciful we his disciples can follow the way of Jesus with trust and joy.
The basic issue between Jesus and the Pharisees, evoked by the concern of table-fellowship, is the concern if some people are outside the limits of the mercy of God. To justify his eating with sinners, Jesus describes this father who runs to meet his prodigal son and finds his joy in restoring him to the dignity of a son. The three parables concerning God’s mercy are filled with the reality of joy. Conversion is the basic requirement for joy; real happiness is to share the joy of God in giving salvation to all and the call to participate in that love and joy of God by responding to Jesus.
Our Gospel of the Prodigal Son speaks in a complete way of the abundance of the merciful love of God and the mystery of our refusal to be a part of the extravagant generosity of life-giving love. The parable gives few details of the dissolute life of the son, the details that our media so delights in. The parable dwells on the desire of the Father for the return of the Son and the boundless generosity to express his joy for the return to life of the one who was lost. God cannot reconcile himself to the lose of a single sinner – the single sheep gone astray, the insignificant coin that had to be found.
The final section of the parable is unsettling. Possibly it touches many of us in a very vulnerable place. Are we willing to welcome the younger brother? Is there not a corner of our logical mind that thinks the elder brother did have a reason to not enter the celebration? Is not his repugnance to his younger brother justified? There are colloquial phrases about someone not deserving the good that happens. Or when something bad happens it is said that it was deserved. The Father who Jesus wants to reveal to us is completely beyond our categories. Our Father is one who wants to give an abundance of life to everyone. All that we must do is to have hearts that are free and large enough to receive a love that is boundless. For some of us there is the malicious instinct that wants to limit the love of God. We seem to be afraid that there is not enough love for everyone and we do not want a share we think is ours to be given to someone else. Jesus reminds was that the love of the Father is infinite. There is no reason for us to decide the measure that others will receive. God’s love is boundless. We limit it. The greatest joy of God is to share his love, sharing his life; even giving the life of Jesus, His Son, so that we can have life. Our greatest joy is to receive that love and life and have others share our joy.
We celebrate the joy, by sharing the abundance of the love of God in sharing this Eucharist in which Jesus is giving his life for us. We can experience his joy by giving our lives for one and other.