This well-known parable begins with the younger son demanding his share of the family fortune with the intent of leaving home and being prodigal, that is, wasteful and reckless with his inheritance. He squanders his inheritance in a foreign land then returns home ashamed, and is warmly welcomed by his father, who runs to embrace him. At the tale’s end, we meet his brother who refuses to be reconciled.
The son had done the unthinkable, demanding his share of the inheritance as if he wanted his father to drop dead. Why did he want to leave home in the first place? Perhaps he needed to fill the hole in his heart that would not receive a father’s love. Feeling unloved by his family, he opts to leave home and live extravagantly. Depleting all that he had, he desperately returns, even willing to be a slave. He never expected the warm joyous reception his father afforded him.
He had no idea how deeply his father loved him. When the son asked for his inheritance, his father granted his wish instead of responding angrily. He did so hoping that his son’s heart would later stir up memories of the love and mercy that he was shown. The father hoped his son would recognize in his gut, “My old man loves me. All this time I had him wrong.” As desperate as he was, the son still believed the lie that his father would not take him back and that their relationship would never again be what it once was.
Why had he not felt his father’s love to begin with? Like his brother, he felt that he had to make himself lovable to be loved. If he couldn’t love himself, he couldn’t expect his father to love him either. But his father does love him dearly and shows that love by embracing his wayward son, putting a robe on his shoulders, a ring on his finger, sandals on his feet; signs that his status as a son was restored and hosting a banquet to welcome him home.
The son had abused himself and others by needlessly thinking he was unwanted. Upon seeing him, his father proves that he is very much wanted by racing to meet and embrace him lovingly. You are here with me always and I’m so glad you came back. I imagine the father whispered those words and more. I remembered you with such love, my son, and I always knew that someday you would come home.
Like the prodigal son and his brother, we just don’t realize that our Father unconditionally loves us and that we can always come home to his embrace. Like the younger son, some of us might be stuck in a cycle of self-indulgence, shame, and self-pity. When we sin, all we care about is ourselves. When that happens, our guilt surfaces, we swallow our pride and come back home.
And when we do, God comes running to embrace us, no matter how distanced we may have been or how grave our sins were. Believe it or not, God is always paying attention to us. God can’t stop thinking about each one of us even if we stop thinking about him. Like the father in the parable, God is looking out for us, eager to embrace us whenever we have wandered away. Because God is all knowing and loving, he knows us intimately and pays attention regardless of how we feel about ourselves, others and him. God’s mission is to fill our hearts with joy. Are we willing to accept his invitation?
Traditionally this is known as Laetare Sunday; the name comes from the Latin for rejoice. Undoubtedly, joy is what the prodigal son felt as his father embraced him. Joy is the feeling we get when we possess something good. The feeling of joy lasts only as long as we have the good thing. It goes away when we lose it or it wears away or we get tired of it. No earthly joy last forever but the joy God gives us can last forever. Joy is what the other son didn’t feel at all.
We can experience that joy when we seek to be reconciled to self, others and God. The journey of reconciliation begins with believing that God never gives up on us. Then we need to look into our hearts. What we find may surprise us. Some things will be good and others not so good. We must have the courage to correct those traits that hinder us from being holy. Once we have forgiven ourselves, then we can begin to forgive others and ask others and God to forgive us.
Reconciliation is complete when we put the sins of our past behind us and start anew, just as the prodigal son did. The beauty of the sacrament of reconciliation is that the words of absolution enable us to let go of our baggage of guilt, move on and try to do better. As Pope Francis said in his penance service last Friday, “The sacrament is about God, who liberates us and puts us back on our feet.” When we celebrate this sacrament, we allow God the Father to once again embrace us with his love, yet so many shy away from this opportunity.
The Pope added, “Dear sister, dear brother, if your sins frighten you, if your past worries you, if your wounds do not heal, if your constant failings dishearten you and you seem to have lost hope, do not be afraid. God knows your weaknesses and is greater than your mistakes. He asks that you not hold your frailties and sufferings inside. Bring them to him, lay them before him and from being reasons for despair, they will become opportunities for resurrection.”
Our need to seek and discover the joy of reconciliation is the lesson here. Since God willingly forgives us, we must be willing to forgive others and ourselves. By doing this we remove the reproach of our transgressions, affording us the perfect opportunity to celebrate that God is indeed with us.