Paul's Reflections Fourth Sunday of Lent - C

14th March, 2010      Fourth Sunday of Lent - C

 

The parables of Jesus are really profound and challenging….  But WATCH OUT>>>>   we  can “kill” Jesus' parables if we neutralise them or water them down with worldly wisdom. Jesus is offering us unworldly wisdom.

 

So too with the so-called “lost son” parable. When he comes back his father gives him a

-Robe

-ring

-shoes

 

These are signs of status. This lost son is now FULLY REINSTATED, NO QUESTIONS, NO RETRIBUTION, NO AMENDS. This is completely insane! But it gets worse. They kill the fatted calf. Perhaps this calf was being fattened for the other sons wedding day feast some time in the future. The father in this story is foolish. But he says "we had to celebrate, he was lost to me and I love him, not matter what, and I have got him back! I had to do this, he is my son after all, I cannot deny him……(Wow).

 

One of our lecturer’s in my sabbatical a few years ago tells a story of a visit he made to a village while he was in the missions. The local theatre people did a play enacting the "lost son" but in their version of the story they unwittingly neutralised the message of Jesus and replaced it with a frightening message of worldly wisdom we can see all too often ://… in their version, when the lost son is walking home, the father sees him and yet does not move. Then the servants  come out of their huts with sticks in their hands, run up to the son and start 'beating him with the sticks' until the father eventually walks up and say 'okay he has had enough!'  when our missionary priest  asked why the troupe had changed Jesus' parable, they said "you cannot let this story run as it was. The rascal must not be able to get off free. If God doesn't punish him, then we will"  !!!!

Very telling…   about human nature… and God’s absolutely insane and unconditional love for us, his beloved people….

 

It so important to let the parable of Jesus speak to us, challenge us, transform us with God’s unworldly wisdom.

 

The story has something for everybody: for those who have strayed in their lives and wonder if they would be welcome in the “father’s house”; for those who have returned to be met on the way with mercy and joy; for those who feel they have always been the good and dutiful ones and who feel miffed when the black sheep returns to such a fine reception. The point is, at one time or another we all find ourselves “outside the father’s house,” and he is eager to welcome us inside where we belong. It’s a day to ask ourselves, “What’s preventing me from entering the father’s house in joy?” and to make haste to let go of everything that keeps me from finding my way home.

 

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REFERENCES:

 

·        FR. PAUL W. KELLY

·        FOLLOWING THE LORD – BY REV JOHN FUELLENBACH SVD.  TALKS ON DISCIPLESHIP. BASED ON HIS BOOK: “THROW FIRE” (1997)

·        Prepare the Word reflections