Word to the Wise
Sunday, September 16, 2007 - Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
[Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-32]My son, you are here with me always; 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......
The great hymn, AMAZING GRACE, ends the first verse with the lines, "I once was lost but now I'm found, was blind but now I see." I cannot help but imagine what it would be like to dramatize the story of the Prodigal Son (or Merciful Father or Resentful Brother) in music and at the end have the two brothers both sing that first verse together. It would apply to both of them. Perhaps the words of the father in persuading the older brother to join the welcome back party ironically apply to that older brother. He, too, is lost and is about to be found. He too is blind and like the younger brother now comes to see! All of this Sunday's scriptures seem to call our attention to mercy (one of the rare times all three seem to line up on the same thing). Moses begs for mercy for the wayward Chosen People. St. Paul speaks of the mercy shown him even though he was a persecutor of the church. (Remember he was an accomplice at the martyrdom of Stephen! Acts 7:58) But what can surpass the profound drama and mercy in the story of the Prodigal Son. It comes after two other parables about the active mercy of God who goes after the sinner. Notice how the father in the parable goes out to each son. He doesn't just sit on the porch tapping his foot. Our anger and hurt at a loss or injury can blind us to mercy! A desire for revenge can blind us to the possibility of bringing back a brother or sister from their own blindness that led them to cause the loss or injury. In the parable, the request by the younger son was equivalent to wishing the father dead so he (the son) could have his inheritance. What happened is that he made himself dead to his father! But the father never gives up. The older brother is blinded by his own selfishness and resentment. The father doesn't give up on him either. What is clear is that the mercy extended was far beyond what the younger son expected. All that was needed was his return. Once he got over his blindness and realized his need for mercy, all he had to do was return. I surely hope the older brother paid attention as well, although the parable tantalizingly stops there. Perhaps it is designed to challenge us to answer the father's plea ourselves. How would we respond? AMEN
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