By Fr Eugene Lobo, SJ –
Twenty Fourth Sunday September 11, 2022
Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14; 1Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-32
In today’s Gospel we are presented with an overwhelming picture of God. He is a God who is all-loving and all-forgiving. The Gospel along with the stories of lost sheep and lost coin gives us the family story of the Prodigal Son, generally understood as the greatest short story in the world. The context of today’s parable is very important. The Scribes and Pharisees, who considered themselves as followers of the law and self-righteous, grumble that Jesus is the friend of sinners and eats with them. So Jesus tells the story about a father who is generous and forgiving. The central focus of the Parable, however, remains on the Father from the beginning to the end. The liturgy reminds us in so many ways that reconciliation and repentance are a communal responsibility and a personal one. What unites the story and makes it powerful is the abundance of love the father shows towards both his sons.
In the First Reading from the Book of Exodus, we hear Moses on Mount Sinai talking to God. He was preparing to be with the people in a special way. But the people encamped at the base violated the first commandment. They demanded Aaron to fashion an image to go before them on the journey who made the golden calf. The Lord was upset because His chosen people were acting perversely. They had cast for themselves an image of a calf worshipped it and sacrificed to it. God was prepared to destroy them al. Hearing this, Moses implored God to have mercy on the sinful people. He reminded the divinity that Israel belongs to God and he alone brought them out of Egypt. God changed his mind and decided not to destroy the people as He had originally planned. This shows the extent of the mercy that God shows on his people.
In the Second Reading from the First Letter of Paul to Timothy, we heard how the mercy of God sanctified Paul because he had sincerity of heart. By the mercy of God, Paul, formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence, was made an example to those who would come to believe in Jesus. Paul first expresses his gratefulness to Jesus for the call he received to preach the Gospel. He was deeply aware that he was a sinner since he persecuted the church of God. Therefore he had all the more reason to be grateful for the grace that united him to Christ and made him a minister of the Gospel. He recognized that the grace of our Lord overflowed in him with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
In this Gospel passage of today Luke has put together three parables all stressing the dynamic of lost and found. The point the evangelist is making in each case is the generous willingness God demonstrates in accepting back the repentant sinner. In the first parable, the repentant sinner is symbolized in the lost sheep. The second parable focuses on the lost coin. The third parable presents a younger son and an elder son both of whom are lost. Luke makes it clear in each case, whether the man or the woman or the father, who assertively go after what is lost until found. Jesus himself does not focus on what is lost so much as the extravagant behaviour of the one doing the finding. From the perspective of Jesus, the finder does not require repentance for full and exuberant acceptance. He presents us with a picture of God whose generosity extends beyond any human generosity we imagine.
The first two parables on lost sheep and lost coin also declare the magnitude of the mercy of God. The first parable of the Lost Sheep which echoes the prophecy of Ezekiel regarding the forgiveness of God tells us that something precious is lost. There is the search for the lost one, the shepherd finds the sheep safe and there is rejoicing. He will seek the lost, and will bring back the strayed, and will bind up the injured and will strengthen the weak. The second Parable of the Lost Coin relates to us how valuable we are to God. The woman has lost something which is precious. She diligently searches for it and rejoices when she finds the lost coin. She rejoices with her friends and neighbours after the discovery. Jesus says that there will be similar rejoicing in heaven when a soul has a change of heart. Through the dynamics of lost and found Jesus explains the value of repentance.
In the parable of the Prodigal Son, we are given a most beautiful description of our heavenly Father. It is the Father who seems to be wasteful or prodigal as he is ready to give his property to his son. He is now outside the house eagerly waiting for the younger son to return. And when he does return his father runs to him, clasps him in his arms, and kisses him tenderly and he brings him into the house and throws a party for him. He comes out of the house once when he sees his older son angry, to persuade him to return into the house. In the same way, our heavenly Father comes out to welcome each of us to his party. The most beautiful line in the parable is what the father says to the elder son, “all I have is yours”. Our heavenly Father says also to us, “All I have is yours”.
But by the end of the story, we see that both of them in different ways prove themselves to be obstacles to the family unity and harmony which the father desired more than anything. That younger son reminds us of the struggle that takes place in society at this time to be successful. He convinces his father to give him his share of the inheritance and squanders the whole thing in a totally irresponsible way of living. But on his return, there is a surprise for him when the Father receives him back and restores him back to his former dignity of a son.
The elder son despises his younger brother for leaving and his father for accepting him back. He is now seen as an angry and hostile person. However, again the father breaks the social custom and pleads with the elder son to come in and join the celebration. The father truly wants his elder son there because he truly loves him. The elder son is not able to understand this. But the story tells us that the father loved both the sons beyond every possible human level and broke all cultural boundaries. He just goes out to love and accept his sons. This is the love proclaimed by God for us in Jesus.
In fact the entire problem began with the younger son. Normally the property was divided only after the death of the father. Then he abandons his duties and responsibilities in the family estate and goes abroad to live a life of fun. His reckless lifestyle drains his fortunes and he finds himself reduced to abject poverty and misery. That a Jewish prince like him should condescend to feed pigs, which Jews regard as unclean animals, shows the depths of degradation in which he finds himself. A life away from the divine quickly enough leads people to a situation where they lose all sense of shame and decency.
The prodigal son did not get the full opportunity to fully express to his father that he would become a paid servant. The Father immediately readmits him as part of the family. The younger son in reality had a warped notion of his father’s forgiveness. But now he had just learned the depth of the love of the Father. The elder son also did not know what forgiveness and love meant. He did not and could not forgive his younger brother for his misdeeds. In this parable, Jesus teaches us the depth of the generosity of God and his mercy.
The fact is that it is a marvellous story and we usually call it the “Prodigal Son” or wasteful son. But, as has often been pointed out, it is rather the story of the Prodigally Generous Father. It is the father who is the central figure. He gives generously to his younger son and also to the elder son.
One summer evening after a festal hour of singing and dancing the whole tribe sat around the chieftain. He began to speak to them: “If you have quarrelled with a brother and you have decided to kill him,” as he spoke he looked directly at the one of the group, “first sit down, fill your pipe and smoke it. When you have finished smoking you will realize that death is too severe a punishment for your enemy for the fault he has committed, and you decide to give a good whipping instead. Then you fill your pipe a second time and smoke it to the bottom. By then you feel that the lashes will be too much and instead some simple words of reproof would be sufficient. Then when the third time you have filled your pipe and smoked it to the finish, you will be better convinced that the better thing to do is to go to that brother and embrace him.