Introduction:

1. Today’s gospel, the parable of the Prodigal Son (Lk. 15, 1-3, 11-32), reveals in one unforgettable story the heart of Jesus’ teaching and mission,  namely, that God is love.

In the last supper scene of John’s Gospel Jesus lets us into the prayer of his own heart: “Father, I have finished the work that you gave me to do . . . I have made your name known” (Jn. 17:4, 6).

Here, in this story, Jesus does just that!

2. Speaking personally, I remember the first time I heard the story of the Prodigal Son. I was about seven years of age, and Sister was preparing our class for First Communion and First Confession. At the end of her story of the Prodigal Son, I remember looking at the clock on the class-room wall. It read “ten minutes passed three”.

It was as though time stood still!

Truly, I was overwhelmed! I was stunned.

The overwhelming goodness of the father blew me away!

His eagerness for the return of his younger son: looking out for him each day, then seeing him from a distance, and running to embrace him.

As a young boy, that scene said it all!

Stories from our young years! They mean so much to us, don’t they!

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3. There is the hot-headed younger son, suffering from the hubris of youth, wanting to do his thing in his own way, taking a loan on his future.

“Father, give me the share of the property that falls to me!”

Of course his world falls apart.

When he hits rock-bottom and feels totally undone by his own wanton ego, he comes to his senses.

What to do?

 “I shall get up and go to my father . . . and I shall say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.”

There in those last words is the real pain: I no longer deserve to be called your son.

That is the loss greater than anything else! He belongs nowhere!

On his return home, he doesn’t get a chance to make his confession before his father clothes him in the robes of full sonship.

His father generously and lovingly gives him a second chance. He clothes him in the robes of full sonship.

That is where the parable leaves us with regard to the younger son.

The task before him is to live into what true sonship really means! He is clothed in the robes of true sonship but he has to live out their meaning from day to day.

He has a future. That is where his truth resides: being a true son.

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4. The hard-hearted elder brother and dutiful son:

When one comes to consider the behaviour of the elder brother on the return of his younger brother, one feels a certain sadness that he is unable to enter into the joy of the father and the return of his brother. There is bitterness in him that has rankled for a long time and surfaces in this remark, “All these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave even a young goat to feast on with my friends.”

Both lack a true sense of their own inner dignity and worth. One sought it in riotous living and the other in what seems a dutiful but soulless obedience.

Neither of them was satisfied.

The father has reached out to the younger brother, clothed him in the symbols of his dignity as a son; and prepared a feast.

He then reaches out to the older brother and offers him a challenge – can you move beyond the isolation you have long retreated into and join in the party of life, for everything here is yours?

Here the parable ends.

5. Conclusion:

We each know the struggle we face in healing our brokenness, the challenge we accept in living with our limitations, and the transforming power that comes to us in honouring the beliefs and hopes that are embedded in a living faith.

In this Holy Year of Mercy, allow me to conclude with words from our Holy Father, Pope Francis:

 “I am always struck when I reread the parable of the merciful Father. ... The Father, with patience, love, hope and mercy, had never for a second stopped thinking about [his wayward son], and as soon as he sees him still far off, he runs out to meet him and embraces him with tenderness, the tenderness of God, without a word of reproach. ... God is always waiting for us, He never grows tired. Jesus shows us this merciful patience of God so that we can regain confidence and hope — always!”  (Homily on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 7, 20130

And from his inaugural homily preached on the feast of ST. Joseph,                                                                             

“It is not easy to entrust oneself to God's mercy, because it is an abyss beyond our comprehension. But we must! ... "Oh, I am a great sinner!" (Pope Francis)

Frank Gerry SVD