Three mirrors of our life

The texts from the Roman CatholicLectionary today are brought to our consideration of kindness and mercy by the thoughts of Charlie Wester of Creighton University about which roles we adopt in life which are mirrored in the people in Parable of the Prodigal Son. We may use our imagination to speculate on what happened before the youngest son leaves with his inheritance and what happened after the elder son rejected the invitation of the Father to join the forgiveness celebration. Friar JudeWinkler tells us that Micah, who provides the text from the Hebrew Testament today, was a contemporary of Isaiah. Our reading of salvation history from the time of Abraham shows a pattern of the People of God, like the younger son in the parable from the Gospel of Luke, time and again leaving the guidance and Presence of God to ”do it my way”. Micah and the psalmist today celebrate the mercy and forgiveness of God who remains faithful to His promises. Why would the younger son leave a family which is led by such a figure as the generous or “prodigal” father appears to be? Why did Israel and why do we answer self directed passions to do it by and for ourselves? Imagination permits us to consider that when we stand in the place of the father, we may not have always been forgiving, merciful and generous. Perhaps people have abandoned us because we set expectations based on what we need or expect from others. Perhaps we have people close to us who are being very patient as they put in time for the material benefits which are associated with our social and economic position. The depth of this parable may lead us to consider the selfishness of the younger son or the misplaced work ethic of the elder son. By identifying with a human father we may imagine that the mercy, patience and forgiveness that he shows his sons are the consequence of his experience of mercy and forgiveness from God who never forgets His Covenant Promise.