LENT IV-C: Jos 5:9, 10-12; II Cor 5:17-21; Lk 15:1-3, 11-32

There is a story about a widow who during the First World War lost her only son and her husband. She was especially bitter because her neighbor, who had five sons, lost none of them. One night while this woman’s grief was so terribly severe, she had a dream. An angel stood before her and said, “You might have your son back again for ten minutes. What ten minutes would you choose? Would you have him back as a little baby, a dirty-faced little boy, a schoolboy just starting to school, a student just completing high school, or as the young soldier who marched off so bravely to war?” The mother thought a few minutes and then, in her dream, told the angel she would choose none of those times. “Let me have him back,” she said, “when as a little boy, in a moment of anger, he doubled up his fists and shook them at me and said, ’I hate you! I hate you!” Continuing to address the angel, she said: “In a little while his anger subsided and he came back to me, his dirty little face stained with tears, and put his arms around me. He said, ‘Momma, I’m sorry I was so naughty. I promise never to be bad again and I love you with all my heart.’ Let me have him back then,” the mother sobbed. “I never loved him more than at that moment when he changed his attitude and came back to me. Jesus said that this is how God feels about each of us.

Acknowledging the allegation that Jesus mingled with the sinners, Jesus outlines the three aspects or dimensions of repentance in the parable, by presenting three characters: 1) the repentant younger son, 2) the forgiving father and 3) the self-justifying elder son. This is a double-edged parable. The lesson of Divine mercy to sinners is shown by the Father’s reception of the returned younger son. A stern warning is given to the self-righteous people by presenting the dialogue between the father and his older son.

From this Laetare Sunday (Rejoice Sunday) we are moving swiftly toward the end of our Lenten fast, and the joy of Easter is already on the horizon. This Sunday is set aside for us to recall God’s graciousness and to rejoice because of it. In many ways we have been dead, but through God’s grace we have come to life again; we have been lost but have now been found. We have every reason to rejoice.

According to the law and customs in ancient Palestine, a father could dispose of his property by making a will that would be executed when he died (Numbers 36:7-9) or he could give his possessions to his children while still alive. Usually the eldest son received a double share or twice the amount that each of the other sons would receive. But in the parable, the father promptly gave a share of his property to his younger son, bid him a tearful farewell and waited daily for his return. Finally, after squandering his money, his morals and even his Jewish religious heritage, the boy returned in rags. He confessed his sins, and his father promptly forgave him, kissed him on the cheeks, and healed the broken relationship between them. He ordered a bath for his son, gave him new garments (a sign of honor) and a golden signet ring (sign of authority and trust). By ordering sandals for the feet of his son, the father signaled his reacceptance of the returned penitent as his son. The robe and ring and shoes were a sign that the son would not be received into the house as a servant (slaves did not wear shoes, robes or finger rings) but in his former status as son. The killing of the fatted calf, specially raised for the Passover feast, meant that the entire village was invited for the grand party given in the returned son’s honor.  Mirroring our Heavenly Father, Jesus, too, squanders his love on those who need it most. Although the story of the prodigal son is often given as an example of repentance, it is actually the story of how God forgives and heals the repentant sinner.

There is spiritual famine all over the world, especially in countries with booming economy. Examples of this spiritual famine can be seen in drug and alcohol abuse, fraud and theft in the workplace, murders, abortions and violence, premarital sex, marital infidelity and priestly infidelity, as well as in hostility between people. Sometimes this “spiritual famine” exists in our own families. That is why we condemn some of our family members to “survival-level” existence, and even contribute to the death of some of them, by refusing to associate with them, like the elder brother in the parable. Let us accept the fact that we have been squandering God’s abundant blessings not only in our country and in our families, but also in our personal lives.

Lent is a time to “pass over,” from a world of sin to a world of reconciliation. The message of Lent then, is, as St. Paul tells us,  “We implore you, in Christ’s name: be reconciled to God.”  The first step, of course, is to do as the younger son did: “When he came to himself, he said: ‘I will break away and return to my father, and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against you.” At every Mass, we come to our loving Heavenly Father’s house as prodigal children. And we receive forgiveness from him. But do we feel the joy of coming back? If we don’t, we are like the elder son who thought he didn’t need his Father’s forgiveness. Let’s ask the Lord for the grace of true repentance like that of the younger son so that we may have true joy on the feast of Resurrection.