4th Sunday of Lent (C)

Joshua 5:9, 10-12; 2 Cor 5:17-21; Lk 15:1-3, 11-32

After reading the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the old catechist asked the kids: “At the end of the story who is it that ended up in a miserable state, the younger or the older brother?” A boy stood up and answered: “Neither one. It’s the fattened cow!”

The gospel provides a background of the “Parable of the Prodigal Son”. The scribes and the Pharisees were grumbling when they saw Jesus associating with sinners and outcasts. For them, it was anomalous for a Rabbi to teach religious truths and at the same time mingle with bad elements of society. The Lord narrated the parable in order to show the scribes and the Pharisees that their idea of God was quite problematic. He wanted to teach them that God is not a wrathful Judge whose only concern is to find fault and condemn sinners; rather, God is a merciful Father who forgives repentant sinners and wills the salvation of all. In order to appreciate the point of Jesus, let us try to know the three main characters of the parable and understand what these personalities tell us about our moral life today.

First, there is the younger son. Apparently, he is unhappy in the home of his father. Without waiting for his father to die, he asks for his share of the family estate, something considered offensive and dishonorable in Mediterranean culture. He is like telling his father “For me, you are good as dead.” Bible experts explain that perhaps the younger son is disgruntled with the fact that in their society it is the eldest son who enjoys greater privileges. The younger son considers it clever to take his share ahead of time, go abroad and live away from his home and family. He thinks that with his inherited money he could live his life unrestricted and enjoys it to the maximum. However, he realizes that there is an end to all his waywardness. His reckless lifestyle drains his fortune. When he turns moneyless, he also becomes friendless. For survival purposes, he applies to work and ends up feeding pigs, the greatest indignity possible for a Jew. This merely shows the depths of degradation in which the prodigal son finds himself. Coming to his senses, he remembers the beautiful home he left behind and decides to go back to his father in order to beg for mercy.

The younger son represents every sinner. The sinner tarnishes his special status as God’s child and jeopardizes his right as heir of the kingdom. The sinner is discontented with his relationship with God and looks for happiness in worldly things. Sin basically is a conscious decision to depart from the love of the Heavenly Father and to find idols in created things. Sin promises a life of pleasure, excitement and satisfaction, but the sinner would later realize that all he gets by sinning is misery, meaninglessness and shame. The good news is that no matter how deeply the sinner sinks into sin, there always is a small voice urging him to come back to his Father’s house where genuine freedom and happiness can be found.

Second, there is the loving father. He has all the power to say “No” to the untimely and insolent demand of his son, but he gives in (surely, with a heavy heart). The father loves his son and wishes to keep him happy and safe in his house, but he chooses not to force his love. He knows that love to be genuine must be free. While the son squanders all his money in dissolute living, the father keeps hoping for his return. He spends many hours outside his house waiting for the shadow of his son. Upon seeing his son, the father runs with abandon to meet him (Lk 15:20) – something unthinkable for a Jewish father to do. The joy of seeing his son alive makes the father disregard his revered status. Most of all, he forgets about his heartache and the humiliation his son has caused him.

The son has a well-rehearsed speech: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands” (Lk 15:18-19). He knows that he is a great sinner and that he deserves nothing but mercy. But the father never gives the prodigal son a chance to finish his apologetic lines. He needs no words, no explanations. The father understands the pain, the humiliation and the shame of his son. And thus, he restores immediately his dignity by giving him the best robe (sign of honor), the ring (symbol of authority), the sandals (only slaves wear no sandals), and by slaughtering a fattened cow (sign of joy and feasting).

The father of the prodigal son is the image that Jesus would like us to have of his Father in heaven. God is a merciful Father who loves us so much despite of our sinfulness or unworthiness. God would like us to respond to his salvific invitation, but he never forces himself on us. We are free to love God back or to reject him. Like the father of the prodigal son, God patiently waits for the return of his lost children. He is one who runs out to receive us. He is one who gives a lavish feast when he gets us back. Unfortunately, many of us are not too familiar with this kind of God.

Finally, there is the elder son. He is proud that he has never strayed like his younger brother. He serves faithfully his father and considers himself deserving of all praises and rewards. He imagines himself as the ideal son, but he lacks mercy and compassion. He is not happy that his erring brother has come back home. He says to his father: “Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends” (Lk 15:29). From the words of the elder son, we can say that his years of obedience to his father had been years of grim duty and not of loving service. The elder son stands for the self-righteous Pharisees who followed all the letters of the law out of duty, not out of love. Like the elder son, the Pharisees were arrogant and unforgiving. They would rather see a sinner condemned than saved.

How often are we like the unforgiving son? Sometimes, we are self-righteous and easy to find fault in other people. At times, we also are judgmental and quick to condemn. A spiritual guru says that when God looks at us, he covers one eye so as not to see the ugly parts of us. But when we look at other people, we open wide our eyes and we even use magnifying glasses in order to see the dirty sides of others. This is where the problem often lies. We need to learn from the heart of our Father in heaven. As Jesus invites us: “Be merciful as your Father is merciful” (Lk 6:36). At the end of the parable, the one that ended up in the worst situation is not the fattened calf but the older brother because he is self-righteous, proud and unforgiving.

As we move deeply into the season of Lent, the Church invites us to emulate the example of the younger son by turning away from our wandering, self-satisfying and totally autonomous lifestyle. May we learn to approach God in the sacrament of reconciliation not as slaves but as his children, ready to repent and make amends to every wrong or harm we have done to others. Moreover, the Church urges us not to follow the arrogant, egotistical and purist mentality of the older son. Let us develop in us a merciful and understanding heart, ready to forgive those who might have offended or hurt us.