The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today resonate with the experience of replacing distress caused by separation from love with acceptance and forgiveness.
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| Home for reunion |
The reading from the Book of Joshua recalls rites at Gilgal that marked the entry to the Promised Land of the Hebrews from Egypt.
* [5:9] The place is called Gilgal: by popular etymology, because of the similarity of sound with the Hebrew word gallothi, “I have removed.” Gilgal probably means “circle,” i.e., the place of the circle of standing stones. Cf. 4:4–8.
Psalm 34 teaches the “poor,” those who are defenseless, to trust in God alone.
* [Psalm 34] A thanksgiving in acrostic form, each line beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In this Psalm one letter is missing and two are in reverse order. The psalmist, fresh from the experience of being rescued (Ps 34:5, 7), can teach the “poor,” those who are defenseless, to trust in God alone (Ps 34:4, 12). God will make them powerful (Ps 34:5–11) and give them protection (Ps 34:12–22).2
The passage from 2 Corinthians is the declaration by Paul of our Ministry of Reconciliation.
* [5:18–21] Paul attempts to explain the meaning of God’s action by a variety of different categories; his attention keeps moving rapidly back and forth from God’s act to his own ministry as well. Who has reconciled us to himself: i.e., he has brought all into oneness. Not counting their trespasses: the reconciliation is described as an act of justification (cf. “righteousness,” 2 Cor 5:21); this contrasts with the covenant that condemned (2 Cor 3:8). The ministry of reconciliation: Paul’s role in the wider picture is described: entrusted with the message of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:19), he is Christ’s ambassador, through whom God appeals (2 Cor 5:20a). In v. 20b Paul acts in the capacity just described.3
In the Gospel from Luke, The Parable of the Lost Son, speaks to us of overwhelmingly generous, unconditional love.
* [15:1–32] To the parable of the lost sheep (Lk 15:1–7) that Luke shares with Matthew (Mt 18:12–14), Luke adds two parables (the lost coin, Lk 15:8–10; the prodigal son, Lk 15:11–32) from his own special tradition to illustrate Jesus’ particular concern for the lost and God’s love for the repentant sinner.4
Kyle Lierk notes that not unlike the sons in today’s Gospel, we all experience various temptations and disordered attachments that take us far away from home. We greet ourselves with disdain or shame when we look in the mirror in the morning, we allow screens and substances to numb or distract us, and we feed seemingly insatiable appetites fueled by our inflated egos and irrational fears. This is all a very real part of the human journey. We find ourselves in distant lands experiencing a deep hunger for which there is only one sustaining solution.
St. Ignatius of Loyola most certainly could identify with these sons. Later in his life, he came to see the vanity and greed that fueled his earlier years. The stubbornness and pride he displayed during a battle with the French at Pamplona resulted in a wound that would not only bring him back home in the literal sense, but would be the catalyst for his coming into his spiritual home and healing with God. In the Spiritual Exercises and, more particularly, the First Principle and Foundation, St. Ignatius teaches that we were created to be with God and that the things of this world can either help or hinder that. As the modern translation of the First Principle and Foundation by Jacqueline Bergan and Sr. Marie Schwan states, “I am from love, of love, for love.” Famously put another way by St. Augustine, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”5
Peter Edmonds SJ, a member of the Jesuit community at Loyola House, Wimbledon, asks what was Christ doing when he died on the cross and rose from the tomb? We have learnt on a previous Sunday that he was transforming us. Now we learn that he was reconciling us. In fact, Paul adds, he was creating us anew, because ‘for anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation’.
This teaching of Paul prepares us for the reconciliation related in the gospel when the father of the prodigal son gives the order, ‘Quick. Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet’. All this is possible, says Paul, because ‘God made the sinless one into sin’. This truth provides us with the doctrinal foundation for Jesus’s teaching and behaviour, illustrated in gospel parables such as the one we hear today. As a penitent church founded on firm faith and solid hope, we are summoned to unite ourselves with Christ, and Paul himself, and to exercise a ministry of reconciliation in a world marked by so many divisions.6
Don Schwager quotes “The Father redeems his son with a kiss,” by Peter Chrysologus (400-450 AD).
"'He fell on his neck and kissed him.' This is how the father judges and corrects his wayward son and gives him not beatings but kisses. The power of love overlooked the transgressions. The father redeemed the sins of his son by his kiss, and covered them by his embrace, in order not to expose the crimes or humiliate the son. The father so healed the son's wounds as not to leave a scar or blemish upon him. 'Blessed are they,' says Scripture 'whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered' (Romans 4:7)." (excerpt from SERMON 3)7
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 suggests that rather than calling it the parable of the prodigal son, we should call it the parable of the forgiving father. This is not a story only about one son. It’s a story about two sons and their father. And as a parable, this story tells us about our heavenly Father’s infinite love for us.
The prodigal son’s older brother, however, was already “alive.” He was faithful and hardworking. But he also needed a conversion. He may have been obedient to his father, but a lot of sinful thoughts still occupied his mind. This fellow needed “ongoing conversion,” a deeper turning away from his habits of resentment, anger, and self-righteousness.
Even if we believe in Jesus, pray every day, and go to Mass regularly, we still need ongoing conversion. We can be trying our best to live good lives and to care for our families. But we can fall into judgmental, self-righteous, self-centered ways of thinking. And so God asks us to keep turning to him for help and healing.8
Friar Jude Winkler shares that the people of God, with Joshua, who crossed over to the promised land began to be responsible for their own nourishment and in freedom susceptible to temptation in success. Our contrition for our sins may not be completely sincere, yet God forgives. Friar Jude describes God as a loving parent wanting us to accept Mercy.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, believes that sooner or later, if we are on any classic “spiritual schedule,” some event, person, death, idea, or relationship will enter our life with which we simply cannot cope using our present skill set, acquired knowledge, or willpower. Spiritually speaking, we will be led to the edge of your own private resources.
The Gospels teach us that life is tragic but then graciously added that we can survive and will even grow from this tragedy. This is the great turnaround! It all depends on whether we are willing to see down as up or, as Joseph Campbell (1904–1987) put it, “where you stumble, there lies your treasure.” [2] Lady Julian of Norwich (1342–1416) said it even more poetically, and I paraphrase: “First there is the fall, and then we recover from the fall—and both are the mercy of God!” [3]
The Prayer of Abandonment by Brother Charles de Foucauld (1858–1916) expresses openness and intention to give up control to God in the middle of life, even before our physical death:9
The decision to run with our freedom and life to please ourselves is taken even as the generosity of our loving Parent/Creator watches us, “a long way off,” prepared to restore our relationship in an instant.
References
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(n.d.). CHAPTER 5 Rites at Gilgal. 1When all the kings of the Amorites to the .... Retrieved March 31, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/joshua/joshua5.htm
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(n.d.). psalm 34 - usccb. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/psalms34.htm
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(n.d.). 2 Corinthians, chapter 5 - usccb. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/2corinthians/5
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(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries - Creighton University. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
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(2019, March 6). Preparing for Easter with St Paul | Thinking Faith: The online journal of .... Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/preparing-easter-st-paul
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(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
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(2019, March 30). 3rd Week of Lent - Mass Readings and Catholic Daily Meditations for .... Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/03/31/
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(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archive: March 2019 - Daily Meditations Archives .... Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/2019/03/
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