By David Peter, CSC –
Readings: Mic 7:14-15, 18-20; Lk 15:1-3, 11-32
Father said to him, ‘Son you are always with me and all that is mine is yours. But we have to celebrate and rejoice because this brother of yours was dead and has come into life, he was lost and has been found’. The same Father in heaven is eagerly waiting to receive you and me in love.
Today we are in the second week of lent and the Church commemorates the feast of St. Matilda, a noble woman married to king Henry I. It is believed that she led a holy life, founded several spiritual institutions and women’s convents. She was considered to be extremely pious, righteous and charitable.
The readings invite us to come out of our sinful life with a repentant heart, to live life in fullness like the prodigal son in today’s Gospel. The first reading reveals God’s compassionate and steadfast love. God’s mercy is unending because God’s love is unconditional. Let us think of an experience where we lost something and found it. It could be a time of examination where we misplaced our hall ticket or a moment where we lost ourselves due to multiple problems or lost an important file in the workplace and found it. Whether it was in the family, college or street, what is important is that we found it.
It is true that each one of us desire to celebrate when we find things we loved most. Today it is the same to our Father in heaven, who is waiting for us to return to him because he loves us more than anything else. It is a great invitation for us to destroy the evil in us and turn to the Lord. We shall seek the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ upon us, so that we become aware of his presence and admit his love as a proclamation to the world by our very life.