The turn to wholeness

The reconciliation mission is prominent in the texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary. The Will of God which was accomplished by the exodus of His people from Egypt to life in the Promised Land is marked in the text from the Book of Joshua. The desire of God is to roll back the disgrace of Egypt and remove the guilt and disconnection which has been the experience of the people in the desert. The Israelites at Gilgal accept the return to Jewish tradition and customs as the men are circumcised and the Passover is celebrated with the fruits of the land of Canaan. Paul addresses the Corinthians with the proclamation that we are new creations in Christ. The disgrace of our previous journey is redeemed by Jesus. We are invited to celebrate our forgiveness and let it be transforming to us so that we who are forgiven become the forgiving people. Friar Jude Winkler comments on the power of love which is unconditional to transform lives. We can witness transformation as a consequence of love. The Gospel from Luke is a parable which Jesus uses to draw attention to the difficulties we have with inclusion and exclusion. Jesus eats with sinners. The generous or “prodigal” Father in the parable is not behaving as a Righteous Jew. The younger son who takes his inheritance should be considered “as dead” to his father. The text indicates that the father kept vigil in hope of the return of his son as he saw him return while he was a long way off. Father Larry Gillick SJ comments on how we likely live internally with some of both sons in our personal relationship with God. Our righteous, hard working, loyal and productive self is the older son. We understand the rules and we follow them. Everyone should follow the rules. The consequence of not following the rules is trouble brought upon ourselves. The younger son in our being challenges the norms and desires self gratification. We experience in our younger son the separation from God which calls us to return. We are aware of our unworthiness and we are overwhelmed by the generosity of God in blessing our decision to redirect and reset our way. The parable invites us to place ourselves in the character of all three, younger, older and father. We can acknowledge parts of our lives where we live the good and bad actions of all of them. As we celebrate reconciliation with God we continue the mission as ambassadors of Christ.