'Your brother was dead and has come to life again'. 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C, 12 September 2010

Murillo, The Prodigal Son Receives his Rightful Inheritance

Readings

New American Bible (Philipines, USA)

Jerusalem Bible (Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, Scotland)

Gospel (Lk 15:1-32 or 15:1-10)

Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,
but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,
"This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."
So to them he addressed this parable.
"What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them
would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert
and go after the lost one until he finds it?
And when he does find it,
he sets it on his shoulders with great joy
and, upon his arrival home,
he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them,
'Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.'
I tell you, in just the same way
there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous people
who have no need of repentance.

"Or what woman having ten coins and losing one
would not light a lamp and sweep the house,
searching carefully until she finds it?
And when she does find it,
she calls together her friends and neighbors
and says to them,
'Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.'
In just the same way, I tell you,
there will be rejoicing among the angels of God
over one sinner who repents."

Then he said,
"A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father,
'Father give me the share of your estate that should come to me.'
So the father divided the property between them.
After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings
and set off to a distant country
where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.
When he had freely spent everything,
a severe famine struck that country,
and he found himself in dire need.
So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens
who sent him to his farm to tend the swine.
And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed,
but nobody gave him any.
Coming to his senses he thought,
'How many of my father's hired workers
have more than enough food to eat,
but here am I, dying from hunger.
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;
treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers."'
So he got up and went back to his father.
While he was still a long way off,
his father caught sight of him,
and was filled with compassion.
He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.
His son said to him,
'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you;
I no longer deserve to be called your son.'
But his father ordered his servants,
'Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him;
put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Take the fattened calf and slaughter it.
Then let us celebrate with a feast,
because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again;
he was lost, and has been found.'
Then the celebration began.
Now the older son had been out in the field
and, on his way back, as he neared the house,
he heard the sound of music and dancing.
He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean.
The servant said to him,
'Your brother has returned
and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf
because he has him back safe and sound.'
He became angry,
and when he refused to enter the house,
his father came out and pleaded with him.
He said to his father in reply,
'Look, all these years I served you
and not once did I disobey your orders;
yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns,
who swallowed up your property with prostitutes,
for him you slaughter the fattened calf.'
He said to him,
'My son, you are here with me always;
everything I have is yours.
But now we must celebrate and rejoice,
because your brother was dead and has come to life again;
he was lost and has been found.'"

Murillo, Return of the Prodigal Son, painted 1667-70

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In the first painting above Murillo shows a self-confident, well-dressed young man. His father seems to be trying to persuade him not to leave and his mother is wringing her hands, sick with worry. So many parents go through similar turmoil when their young adult sons and daughters leave, even if it is only to go to college in another town.

Does the general darkness foretell the darkness of sin into which the younger son was to fall?

The same painter's second work shows dark clouds moving away, sunlight breaking through as the father welcomes his son, no longer full of self-confidence and now wearing rags, the 'finest robe' being held by the servant to the right adding to the briightness and the little dog excited that the young man has come home again.

There are many points we can reflect on in this story. One that always strikes me is how the father gently reminds the older son that the young man is 'your brother'. The older brother had distanced himself from his sibling by speaking about him to his father as 'your son'. It is so easy for any of us to do that, to be self-righteous when we feel aggrieved, failing to see the wonder of new life, which the father saw so clearly when he said 'But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.' 

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On 14 March this year, the Fourth Sunday of Lent when this same gospel was read Pope Benedict spoke these words after the Angelus. I've highlighted some parts and added [comments].

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

On this Fourth Sunday of Lent, the Gospel of the father and the two sons better known as the Parable of the "Prodigal Son" (Lk 15:11-32) is proclaimed. This passage of St Luke constitutes one of the peaks of spirituality and literature of all time. Indeed, what would our culture, art and more generally our civilization be without this revelation of a God the Father so full of mercy? It never fails to move us and every time we hear or read it, it can suggest to us ever new meanings. [The late Fr Henri Nouwen wrote a book, The Return of the Prodigal Son, that was an extended reflection on Rembrandt's painting (below) of the scene]. Above all, this Gospel text has the power of speaking to us of God, of enabling us to know his Face and, better still, his Heart. After Jesus has told us of the merciful Father, things are no longer as they were before. We now know God; he is our Father who out of love created us to be free and endowed us with a conscience, who suffers when we get lost and rejoices when we return. [Rembrandt's painting shows so clearly the father's suffering in his face - for how many years? - (below)]. For this reason, our relationship with him is built up through events, just as it happens for every child with his parents: at first he depends on them, then he asserts his autonomy; and, in the end if he develops well he reaches a mature relationship based on gratitude and authentic love.

Rembrandt, detail from The Return of the Prodigal Son, c.1669

In these stages we can also identify moments along man's journey in his relationship with God. There can be a phase that resembles childhood: religion prompted by need, by dependence. As man grows up and becomes emancipated, he wants to liberate himself from this submission and become free and adult, able to organize himself and make his own decisions, even thinking he can do without God. Precisely this stage is delicate and can lead to atheism, yet even this frequently conceals the need to discover God's true Face. Fortunately for us, God never fails in his faithfulness and even if we distance ourselves and get lost he continues to follow us with his love, forgiving our errors and speaking to our conscience from within in order to call us back to him. [At home in Ireland so many young peopel who are close to me seem to have put God aside, though not out of malice. At times this depresses me but Pope Benedict's reflection on the parable gives me hope]. In this parable the sons behave in opposite ways: the younger son leaves home and sinks ever lower whereas the elder son stays at home, but he too has an immature relationship with the Father. In fact, when his brother comes back, the elder brother does not rejoice like the Father; on the contrary he becomes angry and refuses to enter the house. The two sons represent two immature ways of relating to God: rebellion and childish obedience. [This is an observation I haven't heard before in this context but the Pope is calling us to be adults in our relationships with God, with minds of our own, a clear sense of responsibility - the elder brother seemed to have this - but a deep sense of gratitude to God for everything we have, including our capacity for and call to responsibility]. Both these forms are surmounted through the experience of mercy. Only by experiencing forgiveness, by recognizing one is loved with a freely given love a love greater than our wretchedness but also than our own merit do we at last enter into a truly filial and free relationship with God.

Dear friends, let us meditate on this parable. Let us compare ourselves to the two sons and, especially, contemplate the Heart of the Father. Let us throw ourselves into his arms and be regenerated by his merciful love. May the Virgin Mary, Mater Misericordiae, help us to do this.

Rembrandt, The Return of the Prodigal Son, c.1669