I Will Go Home to My Father
Introduction: May you experience the newness of life (both physical and spiritual) which comes from GOD and may it lead to an even greater improvement in your life.
In advertisements, have you noticed how the words “new” and “improved” Ads never say, “new but worse than before,” Nor do they say, “new box but same old product.” When something is new, it implies it should be better than before or improved. The same is true in our spiritual life. Lent, as both sets of readings for today present, is a time of Newness and Improvement. We are asked to be renewed and improve our own lives personally and communally. Lent (or “Spring”) is a time when the old, dead experiences of winter are given new life. But a new spiritual life requires an improvement on our part. We cannot be the same old persons we have been. It takes work. It means we have to do spring cleaning in our lives. But the results of being willing to change and improve will lead to newness in ourselves, in our relationship with others, and in our relationship to GOD.
Grace means “gift.” It is GOD’s gift to us. We are called to be gracious receivers of GOD’s gift and grateful in our response to GOD’s gift. Today, the focus is on the gift of insight and spiritual vision which applies particularly to those who will receive sacraments during the Easter season. The readings can speak to us of our relation with GOD. GOD desires that we grow in that relationship and live lives that proclaim GOD as the Gracious One Who gifts us.
Today is Laetare Sunday. The Latin word laetare, means “to rejoice.” We are more than halfway through Lent, and our readings give us something about which we can rejoice. In the First Reading, the Israelites have finally (after forty years) made it into the Promised Land. The Responsorial challenges us to “taste and see the Goodness of the LORD.” In his Second Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul reminds his readers that they are new and, therefore, should be improved, and that should lead to rejoicing. The Gospel presents the account of the Prodigal Son for whom the excessively loving parent throws a joy-filled party.
First Reading Joshua 5:9-12: The Israelites celebrate their first Passover in the Promised Land
Commentary: We are working through the history of Israel toward the promise of the New Covenant, which is the central point of Easter. In this year’s readings, the whole period between the Exodus from Egypt and the promise of the New Covenant at the time of the Babylonian exile, some six hundred years later, is represented by this moment of arrival in the Promised Land of Canaan. This is the moment when the provisional arrangements of the desert wanderings come to an end. The idea of manna is based on an edible honey-like excretion of a desert plant. The stories of the desert wanderings are folk-history, not modern research-history. It is best to think of manna as the symbol of God’s wonderful protection and feeding of Israel in the harsh and almost uninhabitable conditions of the Sinai desert. The reading describes a double celebration, bringing together two festivals. The Passover, in origin, is a feast of wandering nomads as they move at the first full moon of spring from their sheltered winder pastures to cooler summer pastures. The festival of Unleavened Bread, on the other hand, marks the beginning of the wheat harvest, a feast of a settled agricultural people. For Paul, it represents the newness of Easter, the freshness of the New Covenant.
Responsorial Psalm 34:2-7: Taste and see that the Lord is good.
The psalm echoes the feelings of the Israelites. It is time to reflect on the fact that GOD has heard their cry and taken action to give them not only what they needed but even more. It may have seemed like a hard and difficult time, but that is now behind them. They can rejoice in all that GOD has done for them, and they can bless the LORD.
Second Reading 2 Cor 5:17-21: God reconciled himself to us through Christ
Commentary: As we approach the commemoration of Christ’s passion and resurrection, we begin to focus more carefully on these events. The New Testament uses a variety of images for the event: Christ was glorified (using the idea of the awesome divine glory), raised to the right hand of God (using the imagery of Psalm 110), exalted to heaven. We were redeemed like freed slaves, ransomed like hostages, reconciled like estranged friends. When Paul uses these images, there is no question of appeasing an angry God, who is to be reconciled by exacting from his innocent Son the punishment due to us sinners. No, man does not reconcile God, but God always does the reconciling. It is a divine action that takes place in Christ. How could God make the sinless one into sin? In Hebrew the same word is used both for ‘sin’ and for ‘sin-offering’. Either Paul is using the language of the Hebrew cult to express Christ as a sin-offering, or he means that Christ was put in the position of sinners. Paul likes playing with words. In either case, the heart of the action on Calvary is the full expression of the unitive, divine love of Jesus and his Father.
Gospel Luke 15:1-3,11-32: The prodigal son
Commentary: Today’s gospel reading gives us a particularly attractive Lukan story of forgiveness. The story of the Prodigal Son is told with all Luke’s love, artistry and delicacy of character-study. The wastrel son goes back home not because he is repentant but simply because he is hungry. The loving father is perpetually on the look-out, despite the fact that the boy has written his father off with his implied ‘I don’t care whether you are alive or dead, I want my money’. He runs to meet the son, interrupting the carefully prepared speech and pampering the returned wastrel. A chicken would have made a good party, or perhaps a lamb, but a fattened calf will feed the whole village! When the father loves the elder son enough to leave his guests at the party and go out into the field, the disgruntled stay-at-home invents slanders about the other’s ‘loose women’ and is gently corrected by his father’s ‘your brother’.
Luke’s characters are always a bit like ourselves, good and bad at the same time. As here, they often reflect on their situation, ‘What shall I do now?’ (Build new barns to fit my harvesting – ingratiate myself with my master’s debtors – compose a pretty speech to soothe dad’s anger) An unforgettable picture of the overflowing love and forgiveness of God.
Reflection: What's worse than being separated from your home, loved ones, and friends? The pain of separation can only be surpassed by the joy of the homecoming and reunion. When God commanded his people to celebrate the Passover annually, he wanted them to never forget what he did for them when he freed them from oppression and slavery in the land of Egypt and brought them back to their promised homeland, which he gave as a sign of his immense love and favor. At the end of their wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, Joshua, the successor to Moses, led the people in celebrating the Passover meal after they had safely passed over the River Jordan to their promised homeland (Joshua 5:9-12).
Our true homeland with God: This crossing over from a land of slavery and oppression to a land of promise and freedom is a sign that foreshadows the true freedom and homecoming that the Lord Jesus has won for us in his kingdom. Through his victory on the cross, the Lord Jesus has delivered us from the dominion of sin and darkness and transferred us to his kingdom of light, truth, and forgiveness (Colossians 1:13-14). God offers this freedom to all who believe in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. God does not desire the death of anyone (Ezekiel 18:23). That is why he sent us his only-begotten Son to set us free from slavery to sin, Satan, and death and to restore us to everlasting peace, joy, and abundant life with our Father in heaven.
The merciful Father who welcomes home his lost son: Jesus illustrates this passover from slavery to sin and condemnation to freedom and new life in Christ with the longest parable recorded in the Gospels (Luke 15:11-32). What is the main point of Jesus' story about two ungrateful sons and their extravagant loving father? Is it the contrast between a grudgingly obedient son and a rebellious son who had wished his father was dead? Or the warm reception given to a spendthrift son and the cold reception given by the eldest son?
Jesus does contrast the eldest son's cold and aloof reception for his errant brother with the father's warm embrace and lavish homecoming party for his repentant son. While the errant son had wasted his father's money, his father, nonetheless, maintained unbroken love for his son. The son, while he was away, learned a lot about himself. And he realized that his father had given him love which he had not returned. He had yet to learn about the depth of his father's love for him.
His deep humiliation at finding himself obliged to feed on the husks of pigs and his reflection on all he had lost led to his repentance and decision to declare himself guilty before his father. While he hoped for reconciliation with his father, he could not have imagined a full restoration of the relationship. The father did not need to speak words of forgiveness to his son; his actions spoke more loudly and clearly! The beautiful robe, the ring, and the festive banquet symbolize the new life - pure, worthy, and joyful - of every person who returns to God.
Forgiven and restored to new life: The prodigal could not return to the garden of innocence, but he was welcomed and reinstated as a son who had been missed much and greatly loved by his father. The errant son's dramatic change from grief and guilt to forgiveness and restoration express in picture-language the resurrection from the dead which Jesus makes possible to everyone who believes in him, a rebirth to new life from death.
The parable also contrasts mercy and its opposite - unforgiveness. The father who had been wronged was forgiving. But the eldest son, who had not been wronged, was unforgiving. His unforgiveness turns into spiteful pride and contempt for his brother. His resentment leads to his isolation and estrangement from the community of forgiven sinners.
God's mercy and kindness knows no bounds: In this parable, Jesus gives a vivid picture of God and what God is like. God is truly kinder than any of us. He does not lose hope or give up when we stray from him. He is always on the lookout for those who have a change of heart and want to return. He rejoices in finding the lost and in welcoming them home. Do you know the joy of repentance and the restoration of relationship as a son or daughter of your heavenly Father?
Lord Jesus, may I never doubt your love nor take for granted the mercy you have shown to me. Fill me with your transforming love that I may be merciful as you are merciful.
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: The Father redeems his son with a kiss, by Peter Chrysologus (400-450 AD)
"'He fell on his neck and kissed him.' This is how the father judges and corrects his wayward son and gives him not beatings but kisses. The power of love overlooked the transgressions. The father redeemed the sins of his son by his kiss, and covered them by his embrace in order not to expose the crimes or humiliate the son. The father healed the son's wounds so as not to leave a scar or blemish upon him. 'Blessed are they,' says Scripture 'whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered' (Romans 4:7)."(excerpt from SERMON 3). [Peter Chrysologus, 400-450 AD, was a renowned preacher and bishop of Ravena in the 5th century]
Forgiveness is... “While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him and was deeply moved” —Luke 15:20
Some people think forgiveness means being nice to those who have offended us. Forgiveness, however, is much more than that. It means actively showing love and mercy to those who have mistreated us. Forgiveness is given before our offenders apologize, even if they never apologize or stop mistreating us. Forgiveness is expressed affectionately. The father of the prodigal son “ran out to meet him, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him” (Lk 15:20). Forgiveness means honoring our offenders by giving them special gifts and throwing a party on their behalf (Lk 15:22-23). Forgiveness is extending mercy, treating those who have mistreated us with love.
Forgiveness by God’s standards is impossible by human power. “To err is human, to forgive is divine.” Because we’re not divine, we can’t do it. However, Jesus is divine. He can forgive, and we can let it be done unto us according to His Word (Lk 1:38). In Jesus, we can forgive everyone who has ever hurt us; we can be like the father of the prodigal son. We can forgive by God’s standards (Col 3:13). We can receive the miracle of forgiveness, go forth as ministers of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:18), and transform an unforgiving and merciless world into the image and likeness of Christ.
Prayer: Forgiving Father, in this Lent, may I change from merely not hating my enemies into loving them. “This means that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old order has passed away; now all is new!” —2 Cor 5:17. Praise You, Jesus, Mercy Incarnate. Praise You for forgiving us even when we were Your enemies (Rm 5:10). I worship You forever.
The personal question/action for today: On this Laetare Sunday, what gives me reason to rejoice? Do I sense the newness that GOD gives me as I seek to be new and improved in my own journey of faith? Do I rejoice with others who have returned to the loving Abba Who awaits them? Am I grateful and joyful to be an Ambassador of Reconciliation to others? How can I better be such an Ambassador of Reconciliation to those whose paths I cross today, this week?
*Saint Peter Regalado: Peter lived during a very busy time in history. The Great Western Schism (1378-1417) was settled at the Council of Constance (1414-1418). France and England were fighting the Hundred Years’ War, and in 1453, the Byzantine Empire was completely wiped out by the loss of Constantinople to the Turks. At Peter’s death, the age of printing had just begun in Germany, and Columbus’s arrival in the New World was less than 40 years away.
Peter came from a wealthy and pious family in Valladolid, Spain. At the age of 13, he was allowed to enter the Conventual Franciscans. Shortly after his ordination, he was made superior of the friary in Aguilar. He became part of a group of friars who wanted to lead a life of greater poverty and penance. In 1442, he was appointed head of all the Spanish Franciscans in his reform group.
Peter led the friars by his example. A special love of the poor and the sick characterized Peter. Miraculous stories are told about his charity to the poor. For example, the bread never seemed to run out as long as Peter had hungry people to feed. Throughout his life, Peter went hungry; he lived only on bread and water. Immediately after his death on March 30, 1456, his grave became a place of pilgrimage. Peter was canonized in 1746.
Peter was an effective leader of the friars because he did not
become ensnared in anger over others' sins. Peter helped sinning friars rearrange their priorities and dedicate themselves to living the gospel of Jesus
Christ as they had vowed. This patient correction is an act of charity available
to all Franciscans, not just to superiors.
