Saturday - Lent Time
1) Opening prayer
Faithful Father, you are our God
of grace, mercy and forgiveness.
When mercy and pardon
sound paternalistic to modern ears,
make us realize, Lord,
that you challenge us to face ourselves
and to become new people,
responsible for the destiny of ourselves
and for the happiness of others.
Make us responsive to your love
through Christ Jesus our Lord.
2) Gospel Reading - Luke 15, 1-3. 11-32
The tax collectors and sinners,
however, were all crowding round to listen to him, and the Pharisees and
scribes complained saying, 'This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.' So
he told them this parable:
'There was a man who had two sons.
The younger one said to his father, "Father, let me have the share of the
estate that will come to me." So the father divided the property between
them. A few days later, the younger son got together everything he had and left
for a distant country where he squandered his money on a life of debauchery.
'When he had spent it all, that
country experienced a severe famine, and now he began to feel the pinch; so he
hired himself out to one of the local inhabitants who put him on his farm to
feed the pigs. And he would willingly have filled himself with the husks the
pigs were eating but no one would let him have them. Then he came to his senses
and said, "How many of my father's hired men have all the food they want
and more, and here am I dying of hunger! I will leave this place and go to my
father and say: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no
longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired men."
So he left the place and went back to his father.
'While he was still a long way
off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran to the boy, clasped him
in his arms and kissed him. Then his son said, "Father, I have sinned
against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your
son." But the father said to his servants, "Quick! Bring out the best
robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring
the calf we have been fattening, and kill it; we will celebrate by having a
feast, because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost
and is found." And they began to celebrate.
'Now the elder son was out in the
fields, and on his way back, as he drew near the house, he could hear music and
dancing. Calling one of the servants he asked what it was all about. The
servant told him, "Your brother has come, and your father has killed the
calf we had been fattening because he has got him back safe and sound." He
was angry then and refused to go in, and his father came out and began to urge
him to come in; but he retorted to his father, "All these years I have
slaved for you and never once disobeyed any orders of yours, yet you never
offered me so much as a kid for me to celebrate with my friends. But, for this
son of yours, when he comes back after swallowing up your property -- he and
his loose women -- you kill the calf we had been fattening."
'The father said, "My son,
you are with me always and all I have is yours. But it was only right we should
celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here was dead and has come to life;
he was lost and is found." '
3) Reflection
•
Chapter 15 of Luke’s Gospel is enclosed in the following information: “The tax
collectors and sinners, were all crowding round to listen to him, and the
Pharisees and Scribes complained saying: This man welcomes sinners and eats with
them” (Lk 15, 1-3). Immediately Luke presents these three parables which are
bound together by the same theme: the lost sheep (Lk 15, 4-7),
the lost drachma (Lk 15, 8-10), the lost son (Lk
15, 11-32). This last parable constitutes the theme of today’s Gospel.
•
Luke 15, 11-13: The decision of the younger son. A man had two sons. The
younger one asks for the part of the estate which will be his. The father
divides everything between the two and both receive their part. To receive the
inheritance is not any merit of ours. It is a gratuitous gift. The inheritance
of the gifts of God is distributed among all human beings, whether Jewish or
Pagans, whether Christians or non Christians . All receive something of the
inheritance of the Father. But not all take care of it in the same way. In this
same way, the younger son leaves and goes to a distant country and squandered
his money on a life of debauchery, getting away from the Father. At the time of
Luke, the elder one represented the communities which came from Judaism, and
the youngest represented, the communities from Paganism. And today who is the
youngest and who the less young?
•
Luke 15, 14-19: The disillusionment and the will to return to the Father’s
home. The need to find some food makes the young man lose his freedom and
he becomes a slave and takes care of the pigs. This was the condition of life
of millions of slaves in the Roman Empire at the time of Luke. The situation in
which he finds himself makes the young man remember how he was in his Father’s
home. Finally, he prepares the words which he will say to his Father: “I no
longer deserve to be called your son! Treat me as one of your hired men!” The
hired man executes the orders, fulfils the law of servants. The younger son
wants to fulfil the law as the Pharisees and the Scribes of the time of Jesus
wanted (Lk 15, 1). The missionaries of the Pharisees accused the Pagans who
were converted to the God of Abraham (Mt 23, 15). At the time of Luke, some
Christians who came from Judaism, submitted themselves to the yoke of the Law (Ga
1, 6-10).
•
Luke 15, 20-24: The joy of the Father when he meets his younger son again. The
parable says that the younger son was still a long way off from the house, but
the Father sees him, and runs to the boy, clasps him in his arms and kissed
him. The impression given by Jesus is that the Father remained all the time at
the window to see if his son would appear around the corner. According to our
human way of thinking and feeling, the joy of the Father seems exaggerated. He
does not even allow his son to finish his words, what he was saying. Nobody
listens! The Father does not want his son to be his slave. He wants him to be
his son! This is the great Good News which Jesus has brought to us! A new robe,
new sandals, a ring on his finger, the calf, the feast! In the immense joy of
the encounter, Jesus allows us to see how great the sadness of the Father is
because of the loss of his son. God was very sad and the people now become
aware of this, seeing the immense joy of the Father because of the encounter
with his son! It is joy shared with all in the feast that he has prepared.
•
Luke 15, 25-28b: The reaction of the older son. The older son returns
from his work in the fields and finds that there is a feast in the house. He refuses
to enter. He wants to know what is happening. When he is told the reason for
the feast, he is very angry and does not want to go in. Closing up in himself,
he thinks he has his own right. He does not like the feast and he does not
understand the why of his Father’s joy. This is a sign that he did not have a
great intimacy with the Father, in spite of the fact that they lived in the
same House. In fact, if he would have had it, he would have remarked the
sadness of the Father for the loss of his younger son and would have understood
his joy when his son returned. Those who live very worried about the observance
of the Law of God, run the risk of forgetting God himself! The young son, even
being far away from home, seemed to know the Father better than the older son
who lived with him. Because the younger one had the courage to go back home to
his Father, while the older one no longer wants to enter the house of the
Father. He is not aware that the Father without him, will lose his joy. Because
he, the older son, is also son as much as the younger one!
•
Luke 15, 28a-30: The attitude of the Father and the response of the older
son. The Father goes out of the house, and begs the older son to enter into
the house. But he answers: “All these years I have slaved for you and never
once disobeyed any orders of yours, yet you never offered me so much as a kid
for me to celebrate with my friends. But for this son of yours, when he comes
back after swallowing up your property, he and his loose women, you kill the calf
we had been fattening”. The older son also wants feast and joy, but only with
his own friends. Not with his brother and much less with his Father, and he
does not even call brother his own brother, but rather “this your son”, as if
he were no longer his brother. And he, the older brother, speaks about
prostitutes. It is his malice which makes him interpret the life of his younger
brother in this way. How many times the older brother interprets badly the life
of the younger brother. How many times, we Catholics interpret badly the life
and the religion of others! The attitude of the Father is the contrary! He
accepts the younger son, but does not want to lose the older son. Both of them
form part of the family. One cannot exclude the other!
•
Luke 15, 31-32: The final response of the Father. In the same way, like
the Father who does not pay attention to the arguments of the younger son, in
the same way he does not pay attention to those of the older son and he says:
“My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours, but it was only right
we should celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here was dead and has
come to life; he was lost and is found!” Is it that the older son was really
aware that he was always with his Father and to find in his presence the reason
for his joy? The expression of the Father: “All I have is yours!” includes also
the younger son who has returned! The older brother does not have the right to
make a distinction, and if he wants to be the son of the Father, he has to
accept him as he is and not as he would like the Father to be! The parable does
not say which was the final response of the older brother. It is up to the
older son, whom we are, to give it!
•
The one who experiences the gratuitous and surprising irruption of the love of
God in his life becomes joyful and wishes to communicate this joy to others. The
salvation action of God is a source of joy: “Rejoice with me!” (Lk 15, 6.9). And
from this experience of God’s gratuitousness emerges the sense of feast and joy
(Lk 15, 32). At the end of the parable, the Father asks to be happy and to
celebrate, to feast. The joy is threatened by the older son, who does not want
to enter. He thinks he has the right to joy only with his own friends and does
not want to share the joy with all the members of the same human family. He
represents those who consider themselves just and observant, and who think that
they do not need any conversion.
4) Personal questions
•
Which is the image of God that I have since my childhood? Has it changed during
these past years? If it has changed, why?
•
With which of the two sons do I identify myself: with the younger one or with
the older one? Why?
5) Concluding Prayer
Bless Yahweh, my soul,
from the depths of my being, his
holy name;
bless Yahweh, my soul,
never forget all his acts of
kindness. (Ps 103,1-2)
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