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Sunday (3/14): “I will arise and go to my father”
Meditation: What's worst than being separated
from one's loved ones, home, and friends? The pain of separation can
only be surpassed by the joy of the homecoming and reunion. When God
commanded his people to celebrate the Passover annually, he wanted them
to never forget what he did for them when he freed them from slavery and
death in Egypt and led them safely through the wilderness to their
promised homeland. God desires that none of his children should be
separated from their true homeland in heaven with him.
Jesus illustrates this Passover from spiritual
death to life and from the slavery of sin to freedom with the longest
parable recorded in the gospels. What is the main point of Jesus’story
about two ungrateful sons and their extravagant father?
Is it the contrast between an obedient and a disobedient son?
Or the reception given to a spendthrift son by the father and the
reception given by the eldest son? Jesus does contrast the eldest son's
cold and aloof reception for his errant brother with the father's rather
lavish party and warm embrace for his repentant son. While the errant
son had wasted his father's money, his father, nonetheless, maintained
unbroken love for his son.
The son, while he was away, learned a lot about himself. And he realized
that his father had given him love which he had not returned. He had yet
to learn about the depth of his father's love for him. His deep
humiliation at finding himself obliged to feed on the husks of pigs and
his reflection on all he had lost, led to his repentance and decision to
declare himself guilty before his father. While he hoped for
reconciliation with his father, he could not have imagined a full
restoration of relationship. The father did not need to speak words of
forgiveness to his son; his actions spoke more loudly and clearly! The
beautiful robe, the ring, and the festive banquet symbolize the new life
– pure, worthy, and joyful – of anyone who returns to God.
The prodigal could not return to the garden of
innocence, but he was welcomed and reinstated as a son. The errant son's
dramatic change from grief and guilt to forgiveness and restoration
express in picture-language the resurrection from the dead, a rebirth to
new life from spiritual death. The parable also contrasts mercy and its
opposite – unforgiveness. The father who had been wronged, was
forgiving. But the eldest son, who had not been wronged, was
unforgiving. His unforgiveness turns into contempt and pride. And his
resentment leads to his isolation and estrangement from the community of
forgiven sinners. In this parable Jesus gives a vivid picture of God and
what God is like. God is truly kinder than us. He does not lose hope or
give up when we stray. He rejoices in finding the lost and in welcoming
them home. Do you know the joy of repentance and the restoration of
relationship as a son or daughther of your heavenly Father?
"Lord Jesus, may I never doubt your love nor
take for granted the mercy you have shown to me. Fill me with your
transforming love that I may be merciful as you are merciful."
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This reflection is courtesy of Don Schwager,
whose website is located at: http://www.rc.net/wcc/readings/
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