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March 11, 2023The story of the prodigal son is very familiar to us. In some ways, it is almost too familiar – so much so that we overlook some crucial details. The father in the story represents God the Father, who is always willing to welcome us – the prodigal sons and daughters – when we come to him and ask his mercy and forgiveness. But when Christ tells parables, he is usually throwing out a story that reflects in some ways the situation facing him. In fact, the word “parable” means: to throw out alongside. If we look at the first couple of verses of the Gospel passage, we realize that Christ addresses the parable of the prodigal son to the Pharisees and scribes. These were the people who followed the Law and the Prophets. They were the loyal sons of the Father – they were like the older son in the story.
The tax collectors and sinners came to Christ seeking God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness, just as the younger son returned to the Father, and were welcomed with open arms. But some of the scribes and Pharisees remained outside and refused to enter the house and celebrate the joyous return to life of their younger brothers and sisters.
The Gospel today comforts us with an account of God’s mercy, but it also challenges us with the story of our own stubbornness. How often are we - like the scribes and Pharisees - holding others at arm's length because we do not like their personal history? Do we rejoice that our brothers and sisters who once were lost have been found, or do we remain outside, angry because we did not partake of the feast set before us daily – the feast of God’s boundless love, the feast of the Eucharist? Lent is a time for fasting, penance, and almsgiving. But perhaps this Lent we can also take a moment to enter the house of our Father and share in the joy that comes from recognizing that, though all of us were once sinners, lost and astray, God has welcomed us home with loving arms and has prepared a banquet for each of us.
