It is the fourth Sunday of Lent, a Sunday which is traditionally called Laetare Sunday which means, ‘Rejoice Sunday.’ We are called to rejoice because we have a God who loves us beyond measure. He cares for us even when we are least sinners and would go any length to have us back to Him. The readings of today express this joy as they draw our attention to the extent of God's love for us, "Today I have taken the shame of Egypt away from you."

 

The Gospel presents us with the famous story of the prodigal son. We are so familiar with this story such that when it is mentioned, our minds quickly remember that young man who demanded his inheritance from his Father while he was still very hale and hearty and went away to squander it all, yet was received back home with great feasting by his Father.

The Father in this story did not hesitate but willingly gives the son as he had requested. This shows the freedom God gives us to live our life as we choose, yet there are consequences to whatever type of life we choose for ourselves. Here, the Father is portrayed as the embodiment of self-sacrifice, sharing, disinterested gift, respect for the liberty of the other, love as against the son’s, who thinks only of himself, one who receives from the Father without acknowledging it. He knows only one thing, to demand, to exact, to force and to lay claim to. Does this not best describe what each of us stands for?

 

However, the figure of the eldest son seems top, often neglected in this story, yet he represents what many of us stand for in this present day; one who becomes uneasy because God extents His loving mercy on the other. Narrating the encounter with the eldest son, the scriptures say: "He was angry then and refused to go in, and his father came out to plead with him; but he answered his father, “Look, all these years I have slaved for you and never once disobeyed your orders, yet you never offered me so much as a kid for me to celebrate with my friends. But, for this son of yours, when he comes back after swallowing up your property – he and his women – you kill the calf we had been fattening.”

 

Dear friends, many of us fall into this category. We obey God but do not love Him as we perceive Him as only a Master and Lord who is to be obeyed for fear of being struck down. We are preoccupied by the principle of strict distributive justice and we never think of anything as repentance. To these kind of people, those who are supposedly not too good do not deserve God's attention and so they write off sinners as lost cause. Who are you to determine who enjoys God's love or not?

 

The elder son represents us in our garment of self-righteousness as Luke points out in that story of the Publican and Pharisees praying in the Temple (cf. Lk. 18:9-14). How many times have we stood as a hindrance to the return of those who have done wrong? Think of the shame you cause someone who approaches the Church for reconciliation all because you think you are better. God calls us not to celebrate sin but never to push away sinners. A sinner has a future because of the Love of the Father who desires that all be saved and so there is room for change. For anyone who approaches the Church for reconciliation, it is a good decision which would had required a great struggle to make in the first place. Let us not frustrate life out of these persons with so many regulations. "If you O Lord should mark our guilt, who would survive" (Ps. 130). God's love is absolutely gratuitous, we can never earn it, we are not worthy of it.

 

The story tells us that the Father sees the child from afar, He is moved with compassion, He runs to Him and embraces Him. The Father does not care in the least whether his son shows true contrition or not, He runs forward to meet him as soon as He sees him. God forgives us completely for His heart is much more drawn to the lost Son than the faithful one at home (cf. Lk. 15:7). If you desire to know where the God of love is each time, read this beautiful story of the prodigal son. The book of Hosea tells us the extent of the love and faithfulness of God even while we are unfaithful. God is not to be found in places of honour or on His throne in the Palace but outside where He looks into the clouds horizon, still seeking his rebellious sons and daughters, and giving them assurance that "all I have is yours".

We are all God's but it is only right that every act of repentance be celebrated as it pleases God so dearly that a lost sheep comes back home."My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours. But it was only right we should celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found.”

 

Jesus calls us to be reconciled with God and other members of the community as Paul enjoins us in the second reading and only Jesus can lead us back to God "For anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old creation has gone, and now the new one is here. It is all God’s work. It was God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the work of handing on this reconciliation" We cannot therefore do it all alone as the Israelites could not attain victory all by themselves.  Let us run to God for help in the sacrament of Penance with a humble and contrite heart. Let us rejoice at the return of our lost brothers and sisters, there is joy in

heaven over a lost one who comes back. When we have united ourselves with God in this work of reconciliation, we shall ourselves experience the complete joy of Easter and dwell with him in the kingdom of heaven. "If you judge people, you have no time to love them" (Mother Theresa).

 

Let us pray: May the grace of God move us to living reconciled life with God and our brothers and sisters. Amen.

 

Happy Sunday, Stay Safe and Stay Blessed.