In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit, one God. We have today before
us the second in the pre -Lenten Gospels, and
this is one of the most beautiful, hopeful Gospels
that we have at any time in the course of the
year. There's a context for all of it, and I
want to read that to you. It's the beginning
of this 15th chapter of St. Luke. They're due
near to him all the publicans and sinners for
to hear him. The Pharisees and scribes murmured,
saying, This man receives sinners and eats with
them. So they're disdainful of the fact that
he's spending time with sinners, which is what
he did all the time. And so a lot of the context
of what will go forward has to do with trying
to help them to have a different understanding
about things. altogether different than last
week, the publican and the Pharisee, in that
you had a publican who kept the law. He did everything
right. And this was their perspective. They were
sons of Abraham. They were sons of Moses. They
did everything right. They kept the law. They
were the good guys. They were over here. And
then you have the bad guys. And they were over
here. We'll hear more about that next week, too.
But... They would divide things out in that way,
but they really didn't look to the heart of people,
nor did they really have compassion for the lost
sheep of the tribe of Israel. They had the opposite
for them. They had disdain. So in this parable,
in the two preceding it, the Lord is instructing
us in what his father is like, the true nature
of his father. To the degree that we can apply
human words to that. Because if we say that God
is love. We don't really know what we're talking
about. Because it's so far beyond what we think
of as love. If we say that he's kind. We don't
really know what we're talking about. Because
he's so far beyond our concept of kindness. But
we have to sort of look in human terms. That's
who we are. That's how we see things. So the
Lord gives us three parables. give us instruction
in this. The first is the parable of the lost
sheep. So the sheep is lost, paraphrasing. And
the shepherd, the Lord, goes after the one that
is lost, leaves the 99. Now, I would think that
practically speaking, he would stay with the
99 and let the one go. But it isn't his nature
to do that. He's not satisfied until he seeks
out every soul. We should find that very hopeful
and very helpful. Because it's his nature to
seek out lost souls. Not to be disdainful of
them. Not to judge them. Not to set them aside.
But to go after them as a good shepherd. And
he takes the sheep and he puts it on his shoulders.
It's a beautiful image. And carries it back.
Says, rejoicing. And he says to the people, rejoice
with me, the lost sheep is found. The next thing
is the woman with the drachmas, the coins. And
she has ten of them. She loses one. And then
she sweeps the whole house, looks everywhere
for it, and finds it. And then she says, rejoice
with me, for the lost coin has been found. And
always a coin in the scripture has an image on
it. And so what it's really talking about is
the image of God in us. That's the coin that's
lost. And she's not going to be happy with the
nine. The Lord is not going to be happy with
the nine. He wants all ten there. It's not about
money. The third thing is this parable about
the prodigal son. Wasteful. So there are two
sons. The younger says, Father, give me what
is owed to me. He's exercising his free will
here. In a way, we would say it would be better
if the father said, no, I don't think you're
ready. Let's just have you stay here a little
bit longer until you appreciate who you are and
where you are. But he doesn't do that because
he gives us this very dangerous thing called
free will that means that we can be profligate.
We could go out and be wasteful of the grace
and the goodness that God gives us. So he gave
this to the young man, gave him his inheritance,
and after a few days, He went on a road trip,
headed out. It says he went to a far country.
And if he's leaving the Father's presence, that
far country is the fallen place. So he goes to
that far country. And when he gets there, the
literal Greek word is that he sort of spews his
wealth everywhere. Just scatters it like seed.
And it doesn't last very long. It's not frugal.
He's not careful. And he spends everything that
he has, and then all of a sudden he finds himself
in poverty. And in that faraway land, immediately
at that time, the famine comes. Because to be
honest with you, it's always a famine in that
land. There's no food there. There's no life
there. It's a place that takes life away from
us. It sucks us dry. So he connected himself
to a citizen of that country, and we know who
he is. And so he did the thing to a Jew that
was the worst thing that could happen to a Jew.
And he turned him into a pig farmer. The worst
thing that could happen. So the Lord often gives
us these real juxtapositions so that we can see
things clearly. So he's serving the pigs. He's
caring for the pigs. This is absolute degradation
for a Jew. And of course these Pharisees are
hearing this. He feeds them these carob pods.
And it says that he would like to. He was starving
himself. Because he's working for the guy. But
the guy doesn't give him anything. He just gives
him bad things. And that's the nature of it.
We think we're getting something. But we're really
not. Not real life. Not sustenance. Not things
that matter. So he feeds these pigs carob pods.
it says that he would like to have eaten them
himself. And I'm thinking, well, why didn't he?
You know, if he'd like to have them, he could.
But the problem is that pigs get nourishment
from carob pots because of the teeth that they
have and the way that their bellies are and everything.
Humans don't. It's one of those things that if
you tried to eat it, you would have to chew it
so long that you would use more calories trying
to eat it than you would get out of it. That's
hellish food. But that's what hell is like. That's
what the far country is like. That's what it's
like to serve that master. Because he takes everything
away from us. So the prodigal son stands there.
His situation is bleak. There's really no hope
for him in this place anymore. And this tiny,
still, small voice goes off in the depth of his
heart. And he remembers where he came from. He
remembers his father's house. Because he is made
in the image of his father and his likeness.
And that is alive within him no matter what he
does. It's always alive within him. And it speaks
out in his desperation as so often happens to
us. And in that moment, the son remembers. He
remembers who he is. in the words of scripture,
they're really well stated. It says he comes
to himself because he had gone out of himself.
He was living in a way that was not real. So
he came to himself and he had a very penitent
heart and he wanted to go back to be with his
father because he thought, well, you know, I
may not deserve to be a son, but at least the
servants have plenty to eat. And they have a
better life. A way better life than I have now.
I'll go back and ask if I can be a servant. Because
I don't deserve to be a son. So he repented in
the literal sense. Because he had gone to the
far country. But he had a metanoia. A change
of heart. He turned with his body. And that's
important. And he started in the next direction.
Because that's the true nature of repentance.
Sometimes we think repentance. is something where
we should feel really bad about something. And
if we feel bad long enough and beat ourselves
up long enough and are mournful and all that
sort of thing, maybe do enough sort of self -flagellation
and what have you, that ultimately God will sort
of be satisfied. That's not our theology, by
the way. It's from another place. And that we
will satisfy him with our repentance. That isn't
what he wants. Repentance is to turn and go in
a different direction. That's real repentance.
That's what we're after. We're heading in the
wrong way. We turn and head in the right way.
That pleases him because it brings hope. So the
prodigal son does that. He takes that action
and he heads back in the right direction. And
the interesting thing is, and this is where we
really see the nature of God. In his life, we
see the nature of God in our lives. We see the
nature of God, how God feels about us. And there
are some verbs, some actions that take place.
First, the father says. When he was still far
away off, his father saw him. So, number one,
he was on the porch looking. He was waiting.
He was looking. For that lost son. Because he
wants him to be at home. He wants to bring him
home. He's not thinking. I hope that scoundrel
never comes home. Because of the way he wasted
my money. And did the things that he did. But
rather. I want him home. I'm waiting for him.
I'm watching for him. And so he's watching. Then
it says. And the father saw him. Just like the
Lord last week. A couple of weeks ago. And it.
transformed Zacchaeus' life. As soon as Zacchaeus'
eyes met the Lord's eyes, he brought him down
and changed his life. So the father saw him at
a great distance. God sees us and changes our
lives. So he sees him, and then it says that
he had compassion on him. He didn't go out and
say, what a horrible kid you are. I can't believe
you have the nerve to come home. This in Greek,
the word that's used here is like deep, heartfelt,
deep, gut felt compassion. He longed, longed
for the son to come home. So he had compassion
on him. And then he ran, which an adult Jew would
never do. It's a metaphor of just letting go
because of the love that he feels. So he ran
to him, fell on his neck. And fervently kissed
him. Just in the south we would say he loved
on him. You know when someone's feeling sad down
there we always say you need to go love on Bill
because he's having a hard time. So this is what
the Lord does. He responds to him and he loves
on him. Loves him. Expresses it through that
most intimate of ways through kissing. And so
the son has a prepared speech, doesn't he? He
already knows what he wants to say, what he's
going to say. So he starts in on it. Father,
I have sinned against heaven and in your sight.
I'm no longer worthy to be your son. But the
father doesn't need that because he's already
seen his repentance, hasn't he? He sees his repentance
in his action. He doesn't need to do more than
that. It's kind of like the son is back here
trying to catch up with all this, where the father's
already made his response. He's brought him back.
And so next actions of the father. He brings
out his best robe. Now, again, in the Greek,
the word is original, his original robe, the
one he had before he left, the image of God,
right? So he brings out his original robe. his
wedding garment, and places it on him. Then he
put a ring on his hand, and that would be a signet
ring. And that would be, if you were in the Galooly
family, and John's father passed on and he handed
him his signet ring, then he would now have the
authority to press that into a wax seal, and
we would know that that was from his family.
So what he's doing is he's bringing him back
into the family. He's making him an heir again.
And then he puts sandals on his feet. Why? Because
he's not a slave anymore. Slaves could not wear
shoes or sandals. Only freemen could. So in making
him a son, in giving him his wedding garment,
in giving him the seal, the image of the family,
he's restored in that. And then he takes him
out of slavery and makes him a son again, completely
restores him to everything that he had before.
And then he says, bring the fatted calf, kill
it, let us eat and make merry. And of course,
this is a Eucharistic image. So there isn't time
to talk about the older son. He behaved. Very
incorrectly, much like the scribes and Pharisees
were. But in the end, we get a word that we had
in the lost coin, in the lost sheep. And that
is, we should rejoice and make merry and be glad.
For your brother was dead and is alive again,
was lost and is found. Was he dead? Yes, he was
spiritually dead, wasn't he? You can be physically
alive and spiritually dead, and that is not a
good thing. So he went from the death of living
to the true life of living. He stopped existing
and became alive again. He was lost and he was
found. So we should never feel That we are too
far away or too lost to be restored. Because
the prodigal son did this in what seems like
in the story. He went out and he was restored
and then he came back. But this image that takes
place from his father is an image of baptism
as well. And we unfortunately go for visits to
that far country. Quite regularly. there's always
the same way home. And since he tells us that
we should forgive, 70 times 7, then we know that
he offers us the same forgiveness. He's never
mean. The Fathers teaches that the wrath of God,
which we think of as the meanness of God, is
really always pedagogic. He's always teaching
us something when difficult things come into
our lives. But ultimately, all he really cares
about is to bring us home, to take us from death
to life, to take us from lost to found. And we
should never in our hearts condemn ourselves
to the point that we think that God cannot forgive
us or restore us or bring us back into his love
and his grace. That's what this parable is about.
Don't ever lose heart. Even when you read patristic
books sometimes that make you think things are
so harsh that it's impossible. It is not. This
is the Lord telling us, no, it's not impossible.
It is ultimately exactly what he wants to do.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit. Amen.