Years ago I read a story that is a modern day version of the parable we just heard, entitled, “Somebody’s Son.” It is about a runaway teenager named David who wrote a letter to his mother, expressing the hope that his father would forgive him for leaving home. He writes, “Dear Mom, in a few days I’ll be passing our farm. If Dad will take me back, ask him to tie a white cloth on the apple tree next to our house.”
Days later, David sat on the train that is approaching his home. He wonders if the tree will have a white cloth tied to a branch or not. As the train draws close to his family farm, his heart beats faster and faster. David couldn’t bring himself to look at the tree as the train rounds the bend. He was afraid the white cloth would not be there. Turning to the man next to him, he asks nervously, “Mister, will you do me a favor? Soon, you’ll see a tree on the right. Tell me if there’s a white cloth tied to it.”
As the train rumbles past the tree, David stares straight ahead. Then in a quaking voice, he asks the man, “Mister, is a white cloth tied to one of the branches on the tree?” The man answers in a surprised tone of voice, “Why, son, there’s a white cloth tied to practically every branch!”
That story illustrates well what Jesus is saying in the first half of this well-known parable: God always forgives us when we sin and treats us afterwards as if we haven’t sinned.
The father embraces his wayward son to show that he is fully welcomed back with no strings attached. The father puts shoes on his son’s feet to show that he is fully forgiven. In biblical times, sandals were the sign of a free person; slaves went barefoot. Putting sandals on his son’s bare feet restores the sign that he is no longer a slave. Finally, the father gives his son a ring to show that he is fully restoring the status his son had before he ran away.
With this embrace, the robe, sandals, and the ring, the father welcomes his contrite son and forgives him fully. Like his son, the father was prodigal; that word means extravagant. Imagine God doing that for you when you hear the words of absolution from your confessor.
In the second half of the parable, the spot light shifts to the older son, who angrily refused to join the celebration despite his father’s pleas. He protests that he was being treated unfairly since he had never been disobedient yet he was never given such a celebration. All those years he remained near his father but obviously not close.
When we reflect on this parable, we usually focus on the father’s willingness to forgive his young son but do we ever consider the other son’s attitude toward his brother? Notice that he resented his father’s extravagant generosity and failed to see how he too has been a recipient of it.
The good news of this timeless parable is that God rejoices when we reconcile with him and give him the opportunity to forgive us, just as the shepherd rejoiced to find his lost sheep or the woman rejoiced when she found her lost coin. That is why Jesus often associated with sinners. As we heard moments ago from Paul, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”
But forgiveness is a two way street. This parable is telling us that we should forgive others just as God has forgiven us, which is what the older brother refused to do. Buried in the Lord’s Prayer is the line, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” When we refuse to forgive, we only victimize ourselves. We are acting like the older son, passing up the chance to let go of a hurtful past.
When hearing confessions, I rarely tell anyone to say a bunch of prayers for a penance. Instead, I invite the penitent to reflect on the Lord’s Prayer thoughtfully and then ask themselves two questions. “Who do I need to forgive?” I suggest, “If a name comes to mind, ask God for the grace to forgive that person.” The second question is “Whose forgiveness do I need for what I have done or failed to do?” I then suggest, “If a name comes to mind, ask God to give that person the grace to forgive you.”
“I forgive you,” are powerful words that release us from a hurtful past. Forgiveness has to come from within and if you find yourself struggling to do so, trust God to give you the grace to be a prodigal forgiver.
Like the father who fully welcomed his wayward son back, we should receive those whom we forgive as generously as God receives us back, with a full welcome, full forgiveness, fully restoring them to their former status. That is how Jesus treated Peter who had publicly denied him on Holy Thursday. Jesus not only forgave Peter but also restored him to his status as the rock upon which he then built our Church. Jesus could have told Peter, “Sorry buddy, you failed me. You let me down. I’ll forgive you but I will count on another apostle to be the rock now.” But Jesus didn’t do that. He treated Peter as if he had never sinned.
If we treat those who sin against us in the same way that our prodigal God shows us when we repent, we can be sure that we too will see a tree with a white cloth tied to every branch when we approach the gates of heaven.