This week Jesus tells what is likely the most famous of his parables, The Parable of the Prodigal Son.
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 Jesus addressed this parable:
“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.’”
Lk 15:1-3, 11-32
After the Pharisees criticized him for calling the tax collector and the sinners to him, Jesus replies with this parable. In this parable, Jesus talks about two brothers, one that leaves the Father and one that stays with the Father. The one that goes the Father is like the tax collectors and sinners. They internally leave the Father and squander all that the Father has given them, but the Father rejoices when the son comes back to him and repents. I, a sinner, relate to this son as I go off and sin, and I squander God, Our Holy Father’s gift of life and happiness. I then have to return to the Father through the Sacrament of Reconciliation to plead for God’s mercy. Like the Father in the parable, God is happy to have me back, and he rejoices and forgives me of my transgressions.
The second son, who represents the Pharisees, is angry and jealous of the other son because he stayed with the Father and didn’t get the same welcome as the Father’s other son. The Father tells him not to be upset because all he has will be the second son’s, but he should be happy that his brother has come back to the fold. This brother is like those who do everything right and look down upon those in the line for confession. Jealousy is too a sin against God’s love. God will give all he has promised to those that show great love for his fellow man and God himself.
Which are you? Are you like the tax collectors and sinners who need God’s forgiveness, or are you like the Pharisees following the law but looking down on his brother for his shortcomings? We need to both embrace God’s love and be one with Jesus. Are you up to the challenge?