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Gospel Reading for March 22, 2025 – Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32
BOTTOMLESS/UNLI
Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So to them Jesus addressed this parable. “A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’ So the father divided the property between them. After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation. When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need. So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine. And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any. Coming to his senses he thought, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger. I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”‘ So he got up and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.’ But his father ordered his servants, ‘Quickly, bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.’ Then the celebration began. Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean. The servant said to him, ‘Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him. He said to his father in reply, ‘Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’ He said to him, ‘My son, you are here with me always;
everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.'”
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Of all the parables of Jesus, this probably is the most famous and is always referred to as “The Parable of the Prodigal Son.” The parable is poignant, and we can imagine how Jesus, the Son of God himself, told the story. How the people listened intently and how it moved them.
Many of us will be able to relate with the story, perhaps as the Father/parent towards our children, the son who wanted to have what was not yet his and even squandered it, or the son who was loyal to the Father, but was unhappy with the way his Father treated his brother.
There may be times in our lives when we abuse God’s love for us. We have everything we need to have a happy life, but we want more than what we have, wasting our lives away in reckless abandon, carousing as if there were no tomorrow. With this kind of life, we will find ourselves down in the dumps one day. We start thinking of times in the past when we had everything we needed in life. It is only then that we get to realize that what we did was wrong. The suffering we go through will not push us down but push us up to find a way out, to find recourse. (So, why does God allow us to suffer? We now know the answer.)
Of course, the highlight of the story is God’s GREAT LOVE for us. No matter what happens, no matter how low we have made of ourselves, his love for us never dissipates. His love is BOTTOMLESS/UNLI. When we ask for his forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, let us imagine ourselves in our Father’s embrace, giving us the finest robe, putting a ring on our finger and sandals on our feet. In short, treating us as if we never abandoned being his children. And unlike the elder son, we should be glad that our brother has come back and is safe again. We have the same Father, we all are siblings in the Family of God!
Lord Jesus, whenever we go astray, please help us go back to you where we will surely be safe from all harm!
