Word to the Wise
Saturday, March 2, 2024 - 2nd Week of Lent - Sat
[Mic 7:14-15, 18-20 and Luke 15:1-3, 11-32]"This man welcomes sinners and eats with them!.....'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." [Luke]
The parable of the Prodigal Son is one of the most powerful of Jesus' parables. It is the third of three consecutive parables on mercy: the lost sheep, the lost coin and finally, and most powerfully, the lost son! Perhaps this third parable gets its power from the way in which it draws us into the drama and invites us to take on the various roles: the prodigal, the older resentful brother, the merciful and welcoming father and, finally, a celebrating villager. For me, the parable gets extra power from the fact that our current pope, Pope Francis, has personified the welcoming and merciful father and has drawn the critical resentment of the "older brothers" for his efforts to welcome back lost children.
How many times have we sung the line from the grand old hymn AMAZING GRACE: "I once was lost and now I'm found. Was blind but now I see!"? How many times have we applied that line to ourselves? How many times have we resented Pope Francis' latest efforts to welcome people marginalized and excluded by excessive juridical attitudes? The power of the parable is that BOTH sons are "lost" and in need of a merciful welcome from the Father and the village (Church?)! Note that the Father goes out to welcome BOTH sons!! Can we see ourselves as going to get the fatted calf, the finest robe, the ring and the sandals and joining the celebration? Or do we fold our arms and sulk? AMEN