Homily for the Week of March 10, 2013

Fourth Sunday of Lent (C), March 10, 2013 Jos 5-9a,10-12, Psalm 34, 2 Cor 5:17-21, Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 Today Jesus tells us a story about forgiveness. Forgiveness is not the rule of our culture. So many times we seek revenge or to punish, and at times we may want to get even or to inflict more pain than was delivered. Such is the culture of lawsuits. But today Jesus tells us a famous story of the Prodigal Son. The story has a very different approach than that of getting even. It is the approach to sin and hurts by showing love and forgiveness. In the story of the Prodigal Son, the father is an example of forgiveness. But it is not only the forgiving father with which we identify but it is the Prodigal Son. Jesus makes the second son a mirror in which He wants us to see ourselves. Jesus wants us to recognize how our anger and resentments keep us out of the Father’s house. Most of us have probably met what we judge to be a prodigal son or prodigal daughter. One often hears of bitter disputes among brothers and sisters when it comes time to divide up the inheritance left by their parents. In the Bible story a father has two sons. The father was probably quite wealthy because he owned a lot of land and had cattle. The man wore expensive clothes. At the time of Jesus these were always signs of wealth. Wealth was usually based on how must land or property you owned. The younger son asks his father to give him his share of the land before the father is even dead! He wants to leave home and go off to live on his own. So the father decides to give both sons their share. The older son stays home and works the farm. When the father hands over his considerable wealth to his sons, one would think they would be happy. But both end up miserable. The younger one squanders everything, while the older one hoards it all, not spending even a little bit to entertain his friends. Both complain about what they have not been given. The younger son, after using up all he had inherited, lowers his sights and would be satisfied with the slop fed to the pigs. ” The older son complains bitterly to his father: “You never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends.” This accusation is puzzling, given that the son already has been given everything the father has. It is equally surprising that the father, instead of angrily dismissing his son’s baseless accusations, responds with a renewed invitation to joy and a reminder: “Everything I have is yours”—already! But something has died in both sons. Their greed and jealousy have blinded them to the overflowing abundance that is theirs. After being away for a while, the younger son hits rock bottom. He believes he no longer deserves to be called son. He acknowledges the wrong he has done his father and the whole community. What has brought him back to his senses? It is his belief that his father is a loving father. It is the father’s unfailing love. For a long time his father has been looking for him. When he does see him off in the distance he flings open his arms, hugs him and forgives him. This action gives this young son love and joy and gratitude. He now feels certain that he is forgiven freely and totally. He did not earn and it can not be taken away. The infinite mercy of God, the Father of saint and sinner, is brought out very clearly in the story of the younger son. Even though he abandoned his father, the father did not abandon him. The father's mercy was big enough and generous enough to forgive and forget. His love for his son was strong enough to smother any feelings of personal resentment. His son's return blotted out all his past faults and failures. It was surely an occasion for general rejoicing. For the vast majority of us our message of consolation and hope is in the first part of today's parable. All of us have, many a time, been prodigal, ungrateful, selfish sons and daughters of our loving Father. But he is still a Father of infinite love, of boundless mercy. He is not only waiting for us to return, like the human father in the story. He is continually sending out messengers to recall us and to help us on the return journey. Like the younger son in the story we may have abused our freedom and broken his laws. We may now feel torn and tattered but, our loving, merciful Father is waiting for us with open arms to welcome us back the moment we come to ourselves and decide to return. Until we have drawn our last breath on earth, the mercy of God and his pardon, are there for our asking. This is really what forgiveness is all about. When we forgive someone we are not saying that the a particular thing did not happen or did not matter. If it did not happen or did not matter we do not need forgiveness. When we forgive we actually take upon ourselves and our shoulders what we are forgiving: it could be money, reputation, insult, or anything and anyone who needs to be forgiven. For instance Pope John Paul II visited face to face in jail the man who tried to kill him and forgave him. Jesus did the very same thing when he willing died on the cross so that all of us who wanted forgiveness would be forgiven by him. Forgiveness is an act of love. It is a choice to go beyond the hurt and not allow it to dominate the relationship or determine the future. It is an act of courage and hope for the future. To reach the moment of such a choice may be a lengthy process and may need many years During this 4th week of Lent talk with God about what is dead in you that longs to come to life again. Ask Christ to help you let go of any resentment toward others with whom you share this inheritance. Have you ever forgiven someone who really hurt you? How did it feel to be acting so much like God? Consider the older brother. Have you ever felt that someone else in your family or among your friends "has it better" or easier than you do? Pray to God our Father to help not to compare ourselves to others. According to Jesus, God looks for us after we have done wrong because we need to be found. God seeks us out even when we do not know that we are lost. God goes out looking for us always,and when he finds us he is happy. God gets more excited over one lost person who is found than over one who has never been lost. God doesn’t care why we come back, just that we come back. The best way that Catholics can enjoy this tremendous mercy is by making a good and honest confession.