Message of Abbot Paul - Saturday - 2nd March 2024
Abbot Paul • March 1, 2024
Today’s Gospel is one of the best known and loved stories in the Bible, the Parable of the Prodigal Son. It’s found in Luke, (Lk 15: 1-3, 11-32). The reason why verses 4 to 10 are missing is that they contain two shorter parables, that of the Lost Sheep and that of the Lost Coin. Together they make up a trilogy of parables which Jesus uses to answer his critics. Verses 1 to 3 explain the reason for their criticisms. “The tax collectors and the sinners were all seeking the company of Jesus to hear what he had to say, and the Pharisees and the scribes complained. ‘This man’ they said ‘welcomes sinners and eats with them.’” Luke presents us with a Messiah who mixes with tax collectors, welcomes sinners and eats with them. The scribes and Pharisees regard this as breaking the law as they interpret it. Jesus, on the other hand, shows us the authentic face of God, a God who is merciful and forgiving, in fact, the God of the Old Testament, ”who does not want the death of sinners, but that they repent and live.” (Ezekiel 18: 11 and 33: 23)
Although we call it the Parable of the Prodigal Son, it is the story of two sons, not one. Likewise, it tells the story of the father of these sons and of his love for both of them, but especially for the younger one who repents of his foolish ways and comes back to seek his father’s forgiveness. As we probably know the parable by heart, I won’t repeat it here, but rather point out some interesting details. The first thing we notice is how easily the father allows his younger son to leave home. Not only that, but he shares out the inheritance equally between the two young men. This is, of course, a parable, not a real-life story, and it emphasises the loving kindness and sense of justice of the father. The younger man emigrates to a distant land, not to find his fortune, but to lose the one he already has. Fortunately, he is not married and does not have children. It’s only when he’s spent every last penny on a life of debauchery and is forced to work in a piggery, that he remembers his father and how well off he was at home. So, he decides to return home. He repents, in other words. He even composes a short apology for his father. “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as one of your paid servants.” Is this an expression of true repentance? What do you think? It’s true, though, that at times we have to reach rock bottom before seeing the obvious: that we can’t go on living like this and need to take a radical change of direction. That change of heart in the prodigal’s case leads him back to his father.
We now turn to the father. It would appear that the father knew what would happen to his son, as parents do, and it’s as though he has been waiting for him to return. “While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him tenderly.” The lad recites his prayer of repentance and the father orders a feast to celebrate his return. “This son of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found.” This is the key sentence in the parable – he was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost but now he is found. This is the central message of the Gospel and entire New Testament, the Paschal proclamation of the Resurrection of Jesus, who takes upon himself the sins of the whole world. Finally, the parable turns to the elder son, who is returning from his work in the fields. He is surprised to hear music and dancing and asks a servant what’s going on. When he’s told, he gets really angry with his father.
He’s upset and feels hard done by, cheated even. His father replies, “My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours. But it was only right we should celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found.” We can’t help but feel sympathy for the elder son, the good one, the obedient one, and yet he is unforgiving and resentful. He cannot sympathise with his father’s kindness and generosity. How would we have reacted, were we this son?
What are we to make of this parable? Well, it’s certainly a memorable story and beautifully told by Luke. It can be interpreted in an allegorical way: God is the father, the scribes and Pharisees are the elder son and the sinners and tax collectors the young one. Obviously, that makes sense. In the context in which we find it in Luke’s Gospel, like the two short parables that precede it, it’s a sound, reflective answer to Jesus’ critics. Yet again, it’s a parable that causes us to think of our own attitudes and reactions to others and how we might be in need of repentance and conversion. An interesting fact is that the story has no conclusion. What happened next? Were the two brothers reconciled with each other and the elder with his father? There are no indications or answers in the Gospel, but we can look at our own lives. How does this parable end in my life? I could be either of those sons or even both and some of us the father or mother. Father God, teach me to forgive others as you have forgiven me in Christ Jesus, my Lord and Saviour. Amen.
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