compassion yielding abundantly

The characterization of the Divine is attempted by the words of today’s Roman Catholic Lectionary. The Prophet Micah begins by comparing God to a shepherd guiding His people with a staff. The shepherd feeds and delights in his flock. He extends clemency for their transgressions and has compassion for their situations. The psalmist praises the Lord who redeems, heals and saves our life from the “Pit. Luke relates Jesus parable of the son who demands his inheritance from his father and leaves home to live sinfully and squander his resources in a distant place. Eventually he reaches bottom and starts for home. The Divine is shown in the statement that “But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him”. The decision to return is necessarily that of the offender, but the response of love, forgiveness and compassion of the Divine experienced by the one returning is “prodigal” (yielding abundantly)