Word to the Wise
Saturday, March 7, 2015 - 2nd Week of Lent - Sat
[Mic 7:14-15, 18-20 and Luke 15:1-3, 11-32]My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejooice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found. [Luke]
In a famous museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, there is a powerful painting by Rembrandt entitled, "The Return of the Prodigal Son." It shows a figure on his knees with head bowed in front of an elderly man." All the light in the painting is focused on these two figures but one can see the older brother in the shadows. It is a powerful moment of mercy and love. But the older brother does not share it.
Jesus tells this story in the context of three parables about rejoicing over the recovery of sinners because he was criticized by the scribes and Pharisees for welcoming sinners and eating with them. A sinner in that context could have been a tax collector or anyone who engaged in a trade that dealt with "unclean" things, as well as the usual ne'er do well folks. Jesus welcomed them as much as he welcomed the more righteous folks like the scribes and Pharisees.
Pope Francis, in his document entitled, THE JOY OF THE GOSPEL, refers to the church as a field hospital for the wounded and sinful, and not a haven for the righteous elite. There is no question about the pain and sorrow caused by the younger son in the parable. We do not know of his fate after the celebrating was over. He asked to be treated like a servant. Neither do we know if the older brother was changed by his father's urging him to join the party. What we know is that the father's mercy is extended to both brothers by his going out of the house to meet with them. That is a tremendous grace, and I experience it often in parish missions when people come to the sacrament of reconciliation after many years away from the church. I am discouraged by the hyper-righteous who love to excommunicate and punish. Sometimes I wonder if they think the devil is getting lonely and they need to send him some company!
Lent offers all of us an opportunity to read and ponder this parable and ask if perhaps there is some of both brothers in us and can we respond to the offer of mercy from the Father, and join in the celebration with each returning prodigal. AMEN