Tag: prodigal son

“He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.” | Fourth Sunday of Lent

From the responsorial psalm: “Look to him that you may be radiant with joy, and your faces may not blush with shame. When the poor one called out, the LORD heard, and from all his distress he saved him. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 15:1-3, 11-32, today’s readings)

“’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.”

The verse before the Gospel draws on the words of the prodigal son: I will get up and go to my Father and shall say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. He has squandered all he has and finds himself exhausted in his attempt to take to himself all that he believes belongs to him. He said to his father, “Give me the share of your estate that should come to me.” Yet, having spent the whole share of his inheritance in self-indulgence, he hungers with a hunger that goes beyond physical starvation. With a contrite heart, he returns to his father, who runs off to meet him while he was still a long way off. Sharing this parable with the Pharisees who complain, Jesus invites everyone who hears it to return with contrite hearts to the Father’s merciful embrace.

God, strengthen my assurance in your boundless love for me. Although I turn my back to you, you never do the same to me. Your mercy goes out to meet me where I am, from a long way off. Give me the humility to recognize that all good gifts come from you, and that I can do nothing without them. The son who returns to the father “comes to his senses.” Lord, let me be reconciled to you and glorify you through your Son; in Christ, make me of me a new creation.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“My son, you are here with me always.” | Saturday of the Second Week of Lent

From the responsorial psalm: “He pardons all your iniquities, he heals all your ills. He redeems your life from destruction, he crowns you with kindness and compassion. The Lord is kind and merciful.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 15:1-3, 11-32, today’s readings)

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.

The familiar parable Jesus addresses to them is the Prodigal Son. In demanding his inheritance, the son takes from the father what the father would generously give him. But as he squanders his inheritance and faces hunger and hardship, he decides to return home and work as a servant. His father sees him from a distance, is filled with compassion, and joyfully welcomes him back, celebrating his return with a feast. The older son is angry at what he perceives is the father’s injustice, but the father reassures him of his constant love for him and the need to celebrate his brother’s return. Jesus describes the same love of the father that we hear in Micah, one who delights in clemency and compassion, “treading underfoot our guilt.”

God, your mercy is constant. Contrition is a means of entering into reconciliation with you, of blessing you with all my being. Just as the psalmist praises you for the height and depth of your mercy, he names you as the one who heals ills and redeems life from destruction. Give me the grace to recognize that you alone are just, you alone see me from a long way off to reconcile me to yourself through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ your Son. Never let me forget the inherent dignity of free will you give to each of us in the choice to return to your love—your very being—and stay with you always. “Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all my being, bless his holy name.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Saturday of the Second Week of Lent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke

“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.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells the well-known parable of the prodigal son, explaining to the scribes and Pharisees how tax collectors and sinners were coming to him to listen to him. The scribes and Pharisees believed Jesus and his disciples should not associate with such people. The parable of the prodigal son teaches that God’s mercy and forgiveness are available to all who repent and return to him, no matter how far they may have strayed. It also warns against jealousy and the danger of thinking that one’s own righteousness makes for superiority to others. To be able to return to the Father is to experience his great mercy.

God, help me understand the nature of your mercy and generosity expressed in this parable. The father rejoices in the return of the younger son—dead and come to life again—but he also affirms the older son’s place at home with him and the inheritance he will come into. For the father, the joy is doubled because the son who was lost returns and the faithful son has all that belongs to the father. That generosity extends beyond possession; the father has nothing he calls exclusively his own. Good Father in heaven, you take me back when I have been away and return, when I have been lost and again find my way to you, when I die to whatever is not you and through you come back to life.

Lord, help me receive your embrace today—the same way I have countless times in absolution after going to confession. From the first reading from Micha: “Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance; Who does not persist in anger forever, but delights rather in clemency, And will again have compassion on us, treading underfoot our guilt?”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees, “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.”

In this Sunday’s Gospel reading, Jesus tells three parables to the scribes and Pharisees after they complained to him, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” First, he tells them about the lost sheep, where the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine to go off in search of the one lost one. Next, he tells about the woman who lights a lamp in her dark room until she finds a lost coin. In both parables, there is rejoicing over what is lost. Likewise, there is rejoicing in the third parable, the Prodigal Son. “But now we must celebrate and rejoice,” the father says to his son in the parable, “because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.” In each parable, Jesus relates to the scribes and Pharisees, and by extension to every person, the joy of bringing back to himself all who are lost to sin. What strikes me in the third parable is how the father goes out to both of his sons, the prodigal son returning and the faithful but jealous son on seeing the feast prepared for his brother’s return.

You come after me, Lord. You come out to meet me and see me, as you did the prodigal son, from a long way off. And when I have been faithful to you but look for spiritual rewards or am jealous of attention that others receive and refuse to come back to you. You come out and plead with me, saying, “My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours.”

Lord, I know your love is unconditional and wildly extravagant. I know you love me and forgive me. Let me come to you today in the Eucharist and watch for me to come to you from a long way off. Help me call to mind any sin that separates me from you so that I am able to receive your forgiveness when I come to you in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Teach me to rejoice as much in finding you when I have been lost as I do when you come out to find me. Help me learn to receive your love and give it away, to give away your love and receive it, and on and on.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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