The Parable of the Prodigal Son, the Gospel Reading for this Sunday, is one of the most celebrated and commented on passages from the New Testament. The story is the third of three parables about God's boundless forgiveness in the Gospel of Luke, the first two being the Parable of the Lost Sheep and the Parable of the Lost Coin. These specific lessons are not necessarily instructions on how we are to manage human affairs but are about how God acts towards us. All three parables depict the unfathomable love of God for us.
Interpretations of the Parable of the Prodigal Son have usually focused on the younger, dissolute brother, as evidenced by how the parable is named. But Pope Benedict XVI had proposed that we rename the passage to the Parable of the Two Sons, since they both show problematic behavior. The sins of the younger son are certainly more glaring. In his cultural context, respect for and deference to elders was paramount. A person's identity was, moreover, defined by belonging to a family and by attachment to ancestral land. By leaving his family and the land behind, he cuts himself off from all his relations and friends. By asking for his inheritance up front, he shows that he wishes his father dead and destroys completely their relationship.
Outwardly, the older son seems much more upright. But his heart isn't pure either. He follows the rules, but he doesn't show any love for his father. He is with his father physically, but not in his heart. His heart is devoid of genuine love and, therefore, he is unable to forgive.
When we hear the parable, we might immediately contrast ourselves with the prodigal brother. We might comfort ourselves by saying that we are nothing like him or at least not anymore, even if we had been guilty of some youthful indiscretions. We are not dissolute, leading a life of decadent dissipation. So, we might say, we can be pleased with our sense of righteousness. But if that is the case, we should still ask ourselves if we are perhaps like the older son.
Are we obeying God's laws but only with a sense of resentment? Are we the type of Christian who labors in righteousness day after day but does so bitterly? I must confess that I fell into just such a trap when I was younger. For years I did what would objectively be considered the right things, but I did not do so with good grace. No doubt, very sadly, I often did a lot of harm in the midst of doing good during those times.
It is not enough just to obey God. We need to do so with love. Mere obedience is a bit like keeping a spiritual balance sheet, with our good deeds set against our bad ones. If the balance is positive, we are doing fine. But if it is negative, we are heading for trouble. That is not how God reveals himself in the Gospels. Instead, the balance sheet metaphor is the secular view of Santa Claus, who knows if we are naughty or nice and will give us presents or coal depending on whether our balance of good deeds is positive or negative.
We need more. More than a balance sheet or a ledger. We need a relationship with God - a relationship of love. We need to obey God because we love him. Because his law leads us into life. God's commands lead us away from destructive and self-destructive things and lead us into his eternal love.
In the parable, the prodigal son hits rock bottom. He loses all his money and ends up as a farm hand taking care of swine, an animal that is the symbol of impurity in his society. By taking care of pigs, he falls to the lowest level of society imaginable in his cultural situation. His ledger is woefully negative, no doubt requiring many years of restitution to move back into positive territory. But despite everything, he decides to appeal to his father's mercy - to his father's love.
He is right to do so. His father is out waiting for him, looking for him, eager to see any sign of his return. As soon as the prodigal son returns, his father embraces him with open arms and lavishes his love upon him. That is how God loves us too. He wants us to return to him and to open our hearts to his love. When we do so, he showers us with his love immediately, without delay.
But the older son cannot accept the father's forgiveness of his brother. In his mind, the ledger doesn't add up. The balance sheet is still negative. The younger son must first dig himself out of the red before he can receive gifts again. The older son doesn't approach the situation from the point of view of a relationship of love. By doing so, he is blocking the father's love out of his own life too.
The question we must ask ourselves is, are we doing the same as the older son? Are we blocking God's grace in our lives? Are we resentful of the good God tells us to do and of having to avoid self-destructive behaviors? Are we bitter Christians?
Or have we fallen away from God? Have we, like the younger son, squandered God's gifts through sinful living? Are we in need of a complete change of direction?
In either case, the answer is to open our hearts to God's love in our lives. God is waiting with open arms for each of us, eager to welcome us back. So let us accept God's mercy.
One key element of our reconciliation with God is the Sacrament of Penance. Lent is an especially good time to take stock spiritually and to ask for God's forgiveness in Confession. During Lent, many parishes offer extra Confession times to encourage us to turn toward God's mercy. Let us take advantage of those opportunities. Let us allow God to cleanse us and fill us with his love.
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The readings for the Fourth Sunday of Lent, Cycle C, are:
Joshua 5:9a, 10-12
Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
The full text can be found at the USCCB website.
Photo Credit: The Return of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt Wikimedia Commons.
