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Gospel Reflection 20070318

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the land."
If you were raised on the Terminator and Prince of Persia being meek sounds wimpish. The Beatitutes challenge us to think differently.We are taught to win — football games, wars, arguments. But Jesus turns the world's values upside down.

When he said, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the land," Jesus was using the biblical meaning of "meek" as "unassuming and tolerant." Truly meek people don't throw their weight around. They are gentle, but with firm faith. They are peaceable without compromising. They can restrain their anger, be tolerant, and are not overbearing. Equally, they are not wimps, or spiritless, or overly submissive.

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The Peak of Divine Mercy
March 18, 2007


Fourth Sunday of Lent

Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to him, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." So to them he addressed this parable. Then he said, "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.´"



The format is a little different this week. I was able to find four excellent Homilies (each focusing on different aspects and details of this “Prodigal Son” Gospel) concerning this famous Gospel Reading, and have included each Homily in its entirety:


ONE
With our Gospel reading for today we, once again, have the lovely story of the Prodigal Son brought to our attention. Arguably, it is one of the most favorite and meaningful of the stories of the Lord. The younger son, the Prodigal Son, has always been accepted as the star of the parable. But, many who reflect on the event look to the father as the central figure. He lavishes love and compassion upon both of his sons. He recognizes the independence of the younger who wishes to leave with his inheritance in hand. He is conscious of the anger of the elder who feels unloved and excluded when the so dumb wayward brother receives such a celebration and welcome when he returns home. Notice, the father is not mean or angry with either. He condemns no one. In each instance he goes to his sons --- watching the road for the homecoming of the prodigal, and leaving the house to go outside to talk with the angry and pouting elder son. It is the two sons, each in his own way, who diminish and tear themselves down. The younger, not recognizing the immense love of his father, feared that he would not be allowed back in the home; the elder with his selfishness, his envy and jealousy and with his resentment demonstrates vividly his imperfections. To the very end the father impresses on both of them the love he had for them --- he is their father and this is their home, “All I have is yours!”
Do we have herein lessons that should be valuable for parents of all ages? Could it be that parents can profit greatly from the wonderful story? Instead of rehashing the stupid carrying-ons of the younger son, and the ugly selfishness of the older son, what about the wonderful handling of the affair by the father? In each instance, to the wastefulness of the younger and the stinginess of the elder, he reacts with a compassion that embraces them completely. It has been said that “Here was a parent who comprehended what it meant to bring a child into existence and to stand by to nourish that life whatever circumstances may bring.”
I wonder how many parents would act as did the father when the younger son came to him requesting his inheritance, the share of the wealth that the father would leave to the sons later on. It seems that the father trusted the son completely, without argument. He does not give advice to the effect that the son is too young to make such a decision, He does not complain that the kid was irresponsible. He does not bargain with him --- suppose I give you half now, and the rest later on. The young man had decided that he wanted out on his own. He was ready to take on life by himself. He wants to be free and unconfined with the wealth and riches that the father had gained for him. And, amazingly, the father accedes to the wishes of the son. He gives him the full amount of that which was his inheritance, and, probably, with his blessing sends the young son out into the free world. Hard to believe! Is this any way for a father to act?
The story seems to say so. When the young son made such an ass of himself with his squandering his inheritance in not just frivolous, but absolutely immoral and obscene ways, he finally, when he realized that the pigs were faring better than he was, “coming to his senses he thought, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here I am, dying from hunger. I shall get up and go to my father . . .’”
In my mind, one of the lovely scenes of the story is the father frequently climbing the hill that would enable him to see the son returning; he expected him to return. If he, the father, had acted in a more stern and strict and angry way when the son left, perhaps he would never have returned. He did not throw the boy out of the house and family. He never closed the door. He prayed and hoped that the young man would come to his senses, and miracle of miracles, he did. Apparently this father filled his office as father in a wonderful way.
And so it was with the elder son and his foolishness. When the elder son refused to come into the house, the father goes out to plead with him. Without anger or rancor, but with compassion and love the father says simply: “My son, you are 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 now has been found.” I would like to believe that the elder son, as did the younger, “came to his senses” and became a real part the family’s celebration.
I am sure that it is most difficult at times for parents to retain a cool head and warm heart when the children can be such unbearable, stingy, selfish, irresponsible, dumb nincompoops. But I also am sure that the path taken by the father in the story will more often be the right and correct way to go. I know the old saying, “Spare the rod and spoil the child.” But I also know the saying that “more flies are caught with a spoonful of honey than with a barrel of vinegar.” And especially the old adage, “Children are to be loved, not understood!” The Prodigal Father simply walks as does Our Father in heaven with His philosophy, love and compassion. It would behoove every parent to walk that same path.


TWO
During the recent years, I have heard many homilies and opinions about how the older son in the story of the Prodigal Son was more sinful than the younger son. After all, the younger son came home and asked his father for forgiveness while the older son was very resentful about the whole situation.
Well, the older son reminds me, in a good way, of many people whom we know-perhaps even ourselves. He is obedient, dependable and faithful to his family. He is there when you need him. He works hard, usually in the background, helping everyone. He is loyal and you do not have to tell him more than once about what to do. Basically, he is the kind of a son that parents dream about.
Many biblical scholars, much smarter than I, have said that the father in the story represents God because of his complete forgiveness towards the younger son. I am not so sure that I completely agree with that because, to me, the father has taken the older son for granted-and God does not do that. For example, when was the last time, if ever, that the father praised him in front of other people and told him that he was grateful for all his good work? Even more, when was the last time that the father told him that he loved him and thanked God every day for him? Who knows? Maybe never. Maybe the father doted only on the younger son.
So, maybe we can resonate with the older son too. He is like the mother who keeps the family together emotionally, spiritually and physically, but who is utterly taken for granted, like an unpaid servant. He is like the father who works 2 jobs, sacrificing his own wants and pleasures so his kids can go to catholic schools, but is taken for granted. He is the loyal worker who puts in extra hours without complaining, taking no phony sick leave, but is taken for granted. He is the mailman, the garbage collector, the one who mows your lawn, the nurse who works the midnight shift, but is taken for granted. In other words, he is us.
And then, let someone else who is uncaring and egotistical do something decent for the first time in their lives or have good luck and the whole world throws a party for them. The older sons and daughters look at this and just shake their heads. It is just not fair.
Now do you see why I do not think that the father in the story only represents God? To me, there is sin enough to go around for everyone-the sin of the younger son who insulted his father and then fled to another city to have a "good time"-the sin of the father who graciously forgave the younger son but forgot to hug his older son and tell him how important he was to the family. So, what was the sin of the decent older son? His sin is something that plagues many good and decent people. His sin was that of an ungenerous heart-the sin of a hardened heart.
This reminds me of a woman I know. We will call her Lily. One day she told me that she was very upset with herself. Her younger sister was moving back to St. Louis. Lily wanted to be happy, just as happy as her mother was. But, she was not happy and it did not make any sense to her. Since her father died, Lily had been taking care of her mother all by herself. She would call her mother twice a day. She would take her mother to the movies and had her over for dinner 2 or 3 times a week. Lily bought the groceries, took care of her finances, cleaned her apartment and brought her communion when her mother was too sick to go to Mass. And, now that her sister was coming home, she would not have to do everything by herself. She should by happy to have the help, but she wasn't. So, what was wrong with Lily?
Well, for one thing, Lily will no longer have her mother exclusively for herself. Lily, not her sister, has been there all the time, like the older son in the story, caring for her mother-day in, day out. And now, this younger sister is coming home and displacing her. Lily is afraid that people will forget all she did for her mother. And, worst of all, her mother will probably throw a huge party for her sister.
Lily has an ungenerous heart towards her sister. Her identity is threatened and she does not like it. She feels that she will not be appreciated for everything that she has done-that she will be diminished.
As we travel the spiritual path, we have to resist this ungenerous heart because, if we do not resist it, we, too, will become like the older brother. We, too, will not be able to rejoice at God's gift of his grace to other sinners who have repented.
We can go a long way toward our own peace and joy and a truly generous spirit if, especially during Lent, we remember that God is in charge, not us. We must remember that God sees everything that we do and that God is pleased with us-and that God will never ever take us for granted.
Let us remember the father's words to the older son, "My son, you are here with me always. Everything I have-everything is yours". Now, isn't that a great thing to remember when our hearts begin to become hardened and ungenerous? We are heirs of God-his children. Think about that!

THREE
Today's readings from Luke speak not only of our sinfulness, but also of our capacity to forgive. We have only to reflect on our own sins to realize how dependent we really are on the grace of Our Lord in order to get it right. Sin is certainly missing the target, as the Hebrew would tell us. It certainly is! To miss the mark in our life is really to cause injury to ourselves and to our neighbors. Our actions either have the capacity to create or to destroy, to be loving or selfish. It has to be one or the other.

Truthfully, many of us have been very critical of our past presidential administration and the environment that was created. True, most of us never took satisfaction in discovering what we would have called an atmosphere that at best can be described as amoral. Yet, who are we to judge - we who are sinners?

Luke would rather have us consider the role of the father in today's reading. Here we have the father roaming his property each day to glimpse from a distance the return of his son. He would study the landscape in expectation of the returning son . . . only to be disappointed each and every day. This disappointment in no way discouraged him from possessing an attitude of anticipating the moment when he could physically display his love for his son and restore the son to wholeness. Finally, the day arrived when the father's desire was fulfilled as he saw his son returning home.

We all know the story wherein the father does not allow his son to complete his contrition, but rather orders his servants to restore his son to his office in life: that of son-ship.

Perhaps we can profitably study this parable from another angle. It is that the father not only restored the son to his state in life, but that the father (if we use an earthly one), a sinner like us, was able to restore life. If we act on impulses the way the son did, we prevent ourselves from creating. In fact, we become deadened and isolated. Yet, on the other hand, it is for us to really become like the father and create life for others. The father's capacity to love engendered within him the power of restoring life to his son and, in so doing, elevated the father to his capacity to be God-like! The father was a true partner with God in restoring life to his son. He was a life giver.

Again considering the father as a good, earthly father, and therefore distinct from the Fatherhood of God - now, this figure, graced for sure by God, loves at a level that restores full life to a son. There is no time for recriminations, for anger or lectures. Rather, the father knows how broken the son is, both spiritually and physically. Restoration as a son instantly creates the possibility for the son to be son, and thus free to respond as a whole person filled with gratitude and an ardent desire to contribute to the welfare of the family.

Not so long ago in the western part of India, over 30,000 people lost their lives to an earthquake registered at 7.9 on the Richter scale. The world responded with so many interventions, including but not limited to teams of rescue workers, donations of money and goods, prayer, medical assistance, etc. Thousands and thousands of people responded generously to India in her need. The composition of this effort included men and women, sinners like you and me! Yet, in this selfless pursuit of conveying oneness with the citizens of India, those who assisted reaffirmed the state that Christ had called them to: discipleship. They rose to identify with the needs of their Indian brothers and sisters in a manner that speaks of the mystical body. They were, and continue to be, partners with God!

Where do we go from here? To begin with, we do not have the right to judge a person. This does not mean that we should not judge actions and intentions that are harmful or injurious to others and, if possible, take prudent steps to prevent them. Rather, our energies should be directed to preserving and supporting life in all its forms. To accomplish this, it is necessary that we reflect and pray, asking God how He wants to lead us. It is the movement of the heart that counts which can only take place if we are capable of discerning the pattern of the Spirit working within us. It is only through prayer and reflection that we can ever hope to comprehend and act upon the influence of the Spirit.

Surely during our own lives, we have experienced the shame of the son - for we have sinned. And during those times, we have become deadened - cut off from a proper relationship to God Our Father, to our brothers and sisters, and, sadly - yes, to ourselves.

On the other hand, we, too, have been invited to be life givers to others. As such, it is for us to draw the lessons from Luke's figure of the father who rose above his own son's recriminations to love well - well enough to restore life.

As such, the father became Christ-like. He created hope and joy, relief and kindness to a broken youth, and instantly transformed him into a person whose capacity to reciprocate was at hand. In short, he was a life giver!

FOUR

“From the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” These words of Jesus apply above all to His own Heart. The parable of the prodigal son reveals the “stuff” of which the Heart of Jesus is made. It tells us above all that He knows the Heart of God the Father, and it tells us the story of man’s sinfulness from the viewpoint of the Father’s Heart.
Jesus identifies two types of son and sinner, one more obvious and flamboyant and the other more subtle and routine. Both essentially ignore their greatest treasure, which is to be sons of the Father, and, ungratefully, they focus greedily on the material things which the Father gives them simply because they are His sons and He loves them. However, the two sons neither understand nor appreciate the Heart of the Father; rather, they are obsessed with themselves, their own preferences, their own good pleasure. This is all too evident in the younger son, and barely masked in the older. Neither any longer sees the Father as Father, and so no longer understands what it means to be son or, therefore, brother. Their ingratitude has made them orphans, their greed has stolen their dignity and sense of solidarity. The root sin of the parable is not found in the leaving of the younger as opposed to the staying of the older; it is not that the younger womanized and the older wanted to socialize; it is not that younger wasted money as opposed to the older saving it; nor is it that the older refused to join the feast as opposed to the younger sailing right in; it is not that the older was angry as opposed to the younger being repentant; it is not the jealousy of the older as opposed to the trust of the younger. There are, surely, many faults involved in all of these, and we must see them and call them for what they are. But, the root sin is that the hearts of both of them were closed to the love of their Father. Indeed, one has the impression that they manipulate and use their Father in order to get out of Him their selfish wants. The Father is no longer Father, but an obstacle to their inheritance.
Being physically close or far from the Father is not what constitutes love or lack of love for Him. Certainly closeness ought to mean at least a desire to love Him, yet the older son’s attitude is fraught with anything but love. When Jesus once told the apostles that they must renounce everything for His sake, Peter asked the question, “What are we to get for following you?” This is, alas, the typical expression of human self-seeking. Likewise, both the younger and the older son were driven by the question, “what can I get out of Him?”. It is the poison of all relationships, it is the poison of original sin in which man reaches out and tries to “get the godhead” for himself. Consumerism is old as the hills and as dangerous as the serpent’s bite. Dressed up in seductive words and images and buoyed up by the secularist dogma that everything you want is good and no-one has a right to stop you, we literally choke ourselves, drown ourselves, exhaust ourselves in our own unbridled appetites. Though legitimate up to a point, the “what about me?” attitude can lead to murderous self-centeredness. It can be easily perceived, masked and unmasked, behind the decaying dimensions of contemporary society, at least in the West.
The words of Jesus come to mind: “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but ruins his very self?” It is easy to see how greed is idolatry, how in gorging the heart, it actually steals it from us just as it steals our ability to recognize or believe in the sincerity of the love of others. In our misery, no matter how happy we may think we are, the Heart of the Father suffers for us, pines for us to reclaim our hearts from the ruin of greed to the salvation of self-surrender unto Him. For His gifts are given out of love, that we might be drawn, each and all, to His Heart, and not that we might ruin our own.
In His words about what the Father says to the older son, “you are here with me always: everything I have is yours”, Jesus is telling us that, as far as the Father is concerned, simply being with Him is already to possess everything. We can have nothing greater than God Himself: to be with Him is everything. We cannot take our relationship with God for granted, nor banish it to some far-off realm we might consider irrelevant to our daily lives. The parable of the prodigal son is, among many other things, a call to remember the First Commandment: “I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods but me.” First things first. In taking God for granted, we begin to ignore Him, manipulate His gifts, create enmity with one another and fall into the whirlpool of self-destruction. To fail to keep the first commandment makes observance of the rest nigh impossible. To ignore God as God, and Him alone as God, no matter how much one claims to know Him or be near Him, is to lose the foundation of one’s own identity. If God is known in truth, then He will necessarily be loved in truth, and one’s own humanity will flourish and blossom like the lily. Personal and communal integrity are impossible without direct reference to and dependence upon God. The fact of the matter is that, if God alone is not the Father, the Almighty, then anyone and anything can become god. God is not a mere factor in the social equation –if, indeed He is even that- or in any other equation: He is the foundation of the possibility of all equations. God is not a useful theory to justify a conservative outlook over a liberal one or vice-versa; God cannot be invoked as justification to do what is hateful in His sight. God is not a mascot, a security blanket, a drug, a principle, a big bang or a fascinating concept. God is God. God is not a bottomless pit of the kind of mercy we invent for ourselves to legitimize persistence in sin. God will not be mocked, and whoever manipulates Him does so at his own peril. God’s mercy is surely infinite, but if you do not desire that mercy as He reveals it, it will not, for it cannot, rescue you.
In our parable, Jesus portrays the Father as exquisitely respectful of the freedom of His sons. Divine love does not arrogate to itself the right to impinge upon human freedom in order to stop us from doing what we want to do. However, when we freely turn to Him, albeit just to find bread to eat or a calf to slay, His response of love is unmeasured. We cannot reasonably be angry with God’s generosity because He does not do what we would do: after all, who created whom? Had God followed our approach to things, Jesus would never have made it possible for us to return to our Father’s arms and festive hospitality. Once that return is made possible, we cannot say we want to be free to do what we want yet, when things go wrong, blame God for not saving us from our freedom! Either we are free or we are not: we are! Either God is free or not: He is! It is true, His love for us is so great that He comes as near as possible to our inner sanctuary of freedom, hoping to attract us to Himself. But He will never violate our sanctuary. He sends us many signs of His love: the order of creation, the Truth of His Son, His active providence for each and all. But He will not overwhelm us unless we signal to Him to do so, as happened in the case of the younger son when the Father ran to embrace him while he was yet a long way off. Although still in the house with him, it is tragic that the older son was actually the one who, by his own volition, was, and remained, the most distant from His Father.
We are all aware, I think, that the drama of the two sons, not to mention the more painful drama of the Father, is still as relevant today as ever it has been. As a civilization, many of those in leadership, and those hoping for it, many of those responsible for forming public opinion and policy, have effectively and efficiently removed even the memory of God the Father from life itself. We are rapidly becoming a society of orphans, a fatherless society, a godless society. Recent trends of thought, such as atheism or agnosticism, are not, I believe, at root to blame for this. Worrying though they are, they are not as worrying as those who say they believe in God but actually exclude Him except in appearances and provided He does not get in the way of their plans for humanity. But if God is who we say He is, can we really separate Him from any dimension of human existence, individual or collective? The autonomy of the secular order is only legitimate when it does not presume itself to be exempt from the judgment of God. Human beings can make even God an object of consumerism: “we want You there, not here! We want you then, not now!” The issue is immensely complex and the nervousness about it, while understandable and not all unjustified, is considerable. However, these should not prevent us from defending and promoting a world-view which is compatible at least with the First Commandment and with the underlying wisdom of the parable of the prodigal son. Such a view is monotheistic without being theocratic, but it requires to be re-articulated with total fidelity to God and convincing reasonableness to modern civilization. For those Christians who, knowingly or unknowingly, have drifted completely away from Him –and we are all in danger of that- we must pray that they will remember their Father’s House and, as the text says, come to their senses. No-one will be convinced to return, however, if we ourselves fail to witness to the mercy of God in the way we deal, dialogue and discuss with others. It is telling that no mention is made in the parable of any greeting between the younger and the older brother. If we are among those who think they are still “at home”, anger is the last thing we should be showing to those we think are not.
Only Jesus can give us the wisdom and courage of mind and heart needed to be the pathway by which others can come back to God. His Heart, in oneness with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is abundant in meekness and gentleness. May ours be one with His, for He is the only life-giving source of what our mouths can speak in witnessing to the merciful supremacy of God the Father.

posted by Mike Young @ 9:41 AM