Homily Fourth Sunday of Lent. C - Sunday, March 31, 2019
Stock photo ID: 96744958. By Nicku. The Prodigal Son in the Arms of His Father - Picture from The Holy Scriptures, Old and New Testaments books collection published in 1885, Stuttgart-Germany. Drawings by Gustave Dore.
THE LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: Joshua 5:9-12
Psalm: Ps 33:2-7. "Taste and see the goodness of the Lord"
Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Gospel Acclamation: Luke 15:18
Gospel: Luke 15:1-3. 11-32
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Please listen to my audio recordings of the readings, prayers and reflections for the Fourth Sunday of Lent. C - Sunday, March 31, 2019 by clicking this link here: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/faith-hope-and-love-lent-4c-episode-148/s-2nZsJ (EPISODE: 148)
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As usual, the Pharisees and the scribes are on the lookout. They condemn the welcome that Jesus extends to those considered as public sinners, people who, for that reason, are on the edges of society and despised by them (Lk 15:1).
This prompts our Lord to tell them a story about what God is really like. The parable of the Prodigal Son would have to be one of the best stories of all time. The fact that Jesus, (God made flesh, tells this story to show us how the Heavenly Father thinks and relates to us, even when we have done wrong, is truly amazing.
Of all the images Jesus could have used, the one he persistently uses is that of an unconditionally loving parent.. a doting Father, no less.
There are so many different images of what God is like… some are very scary… some are very distant and stern.. and then there is this truly wonderful image of God… The true image of what God is like…. A loving Father… an unreasonably generous, loving, caring and hoping parent…. It is just too wonderful!!! Thanks be to God for his goodness and love…
"The prodigal son, who has really messed up his life, knows his father well, so he is sure that he can go home and ask for forgiveness (vv. 11-19). The son knows his father's love from experience. Yet his father's response will still completely overwhelm him - it is more profound and complete than he could possibly have imagined."* the Father's reaction does not make sense if one is simply applying pure logic, or mechanical rules and protocols. It DOES make sense when one sees through the eyes of a loving parent.
"The son had mentally prepared his formula of repentance. But the father runs,in a manner quite undignified and unexpected for a man of his age and position in that time and culture, to meet his son, taking the initiative to embrace him. The son recites the phrase he had prepared for a long time, but the Father doesn't even let him finish this mechanical formula. In the presence of the father's love, this prepared script becomes utterly redundant,(vv. 20-21)."*
"Forgiveness comes from the welcoming person rather than from the repenting sinner. Forgiving is giving life."*
"Failing to see the gratuitousness of love is failing to understand the gospel. By converting the gospel into a mere set of obligations, external rules or a guarantee of authorities without moral worth, we make a caricature out of it."*
The reason Jesus told this story… is to appeal to the better-judgment of the Pharisees and scribes. The Pharisees and scribes were, at the time of Jesus, known to be experts in the right-application of the Law of Moses, and of God's law….. they made themselves out to be the perfect examples of how people should faithfully obey God and be considered at rights with God… but it is quite clear from the prodigal son story, that Jesus is trying to show them that, far from being the perfect model of what a good child of God is like… they were acting more like the older (seemingly loyal son) who, although he had done nothing wrong… was thinking and acting more like an embittered slave in his father's house than a beloved son… and resenting the forgiveness and reform of anyone who fell short… just like a lost son, realising the folly of their ways, would be welcomed back by his loving father… ….
Jesus was trying to get all people to stop acting like dutiful, loveless, hard-hearted slaves of God.. and take up their rightful place as beloved, unconditionally loved children of God….. they should be rejoicing when the lost are found and brought back… not whinging and complaining and recommending distance and rejection,……
Jesus is clearly saying that the self-righteous good guys who have not done anything wrong according to the letter of the law, may just be as bad a sinner or worse than those who had broken God's law and repented…. Because they fail to grasp the very essence of the gospel... LOVE, and so they are not living as God's beloved sons and daughters. instead, they act like ill-willed, mean-spirited slaves, who kept God's law begrudgingly, and for a calculated expectation of reward… and with neither true love of their heavenly father, nor true love of their fellow brother or sister…. Jesus was trying to say to everyone… WAKE UP to yourselves…. If you do everything out of duty, and self-righteousness, and judgementalism, and you are not loving, forgiving, gracious and inclusive….. then you are totally on the wrong track .. You have utterly missed the point of the Gospel and misunderstood the very nature of God. Ironically, they are acting as badly as the ones they condemn….
This parable is also wonderful for all who have ever sinned or turned away from God by their actions and attitudes… because Our Lord is imploring us to see ourselves as children of a loving God… who keeps searching for us like a doting father.. and who will happily welcome us back when we turn our faces back to home… not because we deserve it, but because God loves us and wants the best for us… and knows that being part of God's family is God's plan for us and what is best for us…. And he calls upon us to take on this attitude to others .. and see them too as our fellow brothers and sisters… all part of one big family loved and cherished and welcomed by God…..
Oh, what a wonderful world it would be if this parable took hold of the minds and hearts of all of us.. whether we are the prodigal son or the mean-spirit older brother who does not realise the gracious love he is called to…
St Paul sums up our true role in this world…. "…we are ambassadors for Christ as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."
May God help us to be aware that we are loved children of God and ministers and instruments of God's love and forgiveness in our lives and in our community…
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REFERENCES:
FR. PAUL W. KELLY
*Barclay, W. (1975). The Gospel of Luke. 2nd ed. Edinburgh: St. Andrew Press
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May God bless and keep you.
Fourth Sunday of Lent. C
(Sunday, March 31, 2019)
(EPISODE: 148 )
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (or// The Lord be with You)
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As we prepare to celebrate the great Sacramental feast of Gods love, let us pause, recall our sins, and trust in Gods infinite mercy.
Lord Jesus, you came to gather the nations into the peace of God's kingdom: Lord, have mercy// You come in word and in sacrament to strengthen us and make us holy: Christ, have mercy//You will come again in glory with salvation for your people: Lord, have mercy.
May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.
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Memorial Acclamation
Save us, Saviour of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free.
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Sunday Lent IV
Eucharistic Prayer I
Communion side. pwk: RH
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Go in peace. (glorifying the Lord by your life)
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