Fourth week of Lent

Luke 15:11-32 is the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

It never ceases to amaze me how Bible verses, read at different times in our lives, can inspire such a variety of reflections. This seems especially true with Jesus’ Parables.

I have heard sermons on how the Parable of the Prodigal Son shows the shallowness and inadequacy of relating to God in a transactional manner: give me what I want and lets limit our interactions to this.

Or again, how sometimes the relationship is reduced to a plea for help in times of crisis. I imagine there must be a lot of this going on during this recession.

Last year I recall Fr. Joe focusing on the elder brother, who had served his father faithfully and was resentful that a feast was put on for the return of his younger sibling. Fr. Joe concentrated on this aspect of the Parable, if memory serves, to drive home two points: grudging obedience to God’s will blinds one to the benefits of doing so (do you really care to acquire the wisdom of living by God’s rule by going through the full gamut of the Prodigal Son’s experience?) and secondly, ask for what you want and if it’s truly within God’s will you will get it at some point.

Another reflection that comes to me is God’s amazing capacity for forgiveness and reconciliation. Despite all the Prodigal Son’s actions, when he showed he truly regretted them then all was forgiven and he was brought back into the fold.

I have a Protestant friend who once said to me that God’s offer of reconciliation through Christ as our sin offering is the best deal in the world. It certainly seems that way to me.