WEBVTT 00:00:01.639 --> 00:00:03.919 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 00:00:03.919 --> 00:00:10.000 of the Holy Spirit, one God. We have today before 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:14.800 us the second in the pre -Lenten Gospels, and 00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:18.039 this is one of the most beautiful, hopeful Gospels 00:00:18.039 --> 00:00:19.940 that we have at any time in the course of the 00:00:19.940 --> 00:00:24.859 year. There's a context for all of it, and I 00:00:24.859 --> 00:00:27.260 want to read that to you. It's the beginning 00:00:27.260 --> 00:00:31.550 of this 15th chapter of St. Luke. They're due 00:00:31.550 --> 00:00:34.310 near to him all the publicans and sinners for 00:00:34.310 --> 00:00:37.390 to hear him. The Pharisees and scribes murmured, 00:00:37.390 --> 00:00:40.090 saying, This man receives sinners and eats with 00:00:40.090 --> 00:00:44.250 them. So they're disdainful of the fact that 00:00:44.250 --> 00:00:46.109 he's spending time with sinners, which is what 00:00:46.109 --> 00:00:52.229 he did all the time. And so a lot of the context 00:00:52.229 --> 00:00:54.369 of what will go forward has to do with trying 00:00:54.369 --> 00:00:56.570 to help them to have a different understanding 00:00:56.570 --> 00:00:59.759 about things. altogether different than last 00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:02.659 week, the publican and the Pharisee, in that 00:01:02.659 --> 00:01:05.879 you had a publican who kept the law. He did everything 00:01:05.879 --> 00:01:09.120 right. And this was their perspective. They were 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:11.620 sons of Abraham. They were sons of Moses. They 00:01:11.620 --> 00:01:14.140 did everything right. They kept the law. They 00:01:14.140 --> 00:01:16.879 were the good guys. They were over here. And 00:01:16.879 --> 00:01:18.959 then you have the bad guys. And they were over 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:21.540 here. We'll hear more about that next week, too. 00:01:22.840 --> 00:01:26.680 But... They would divide things out in that way, 00:01:26.739 --> 00:01:28.799 but they really didn't look to the heart of people, 00:01:28.900 --> 00:01:32.760 nor did they really have compassion for the lost 00:01:32.760 --> 00:01:36.140 sheep of the tribe of Israel. They had the opposite 00:01:36.140 --> 00:01:39.939 for them. They had disdain. So in this parable, 00:01:39.939 --> 00:01:44.980 in the two preceding it, the Lord is instructing 00:01:44.980 --> 00:01:49.939 us in what his father is like, the true nature 00:01:49.939 --> 00:01:52.980 of his father. To the degree that we can apply 00:01:52.980 --> 00:01:56.340 human words to that. Because if we say that God 00:01:56.340 --> 00:01:58.560 is love. We don't really know what we're talking 00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:02.040 about. Because it's so far beyond what we think 00:02:02.040 --> 00:02:06.640 of as love. If we say that he's kind. We don't 00:02:06.640 --> 00:02:08.400 really know what we're talking about. Because 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:12.300 he's so far beyond our concept of kindness. But 00:02:12.300 --> 00:02:15.439 we have to sort of look in human terms. That's 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:17.939 who we are. That's how we see things. So the 00:02:17.939 --> 00:02:21.789 Lord gives us three parables. give us instruction 00:02:21.789 --> 00:02:24.610 in this. The first is the parable of the lost 00:02:24.610 --> 00:02:28.909 sheep. So the sheep is lost, paraphrasing. And 00:02:28.909 --> 00:02:33.409 the shepherd, the Lord, goes after the one that 00:02:33.409 --> 00:02:37.110 is lost, leaves the 99. Now, I would think that 00:02:37.110 --> 00:02:40.069 practically speaking, he would stay with the 00:02:40.069 --> 00:02:44.349 99 and let the one go. But it isn't his nature 00:02:44.349 --> 00:02:48.889 to do that. He's not satisfied until he seeks 00:02:48.889 --> 00:02:52.180 out every soul. We should find that very hopeful 00:02:52.180 --> 00:02:55.860 and very helpful. Because it's his nature to 00:02:55.860 --> 00:02:59.460 seek out lost souls. Not to be disdainful of 00:02:59.460 --> 00:03:03.000 them. Not to judge them. Not to set them aside. 00:03:03.319 --> 00:03:07.180 But to go after them as a good shepherd. And 00:03:07.180 --> 00:03:09.759 he takes the sheep and he puts it on his shoulders. 00:03:09.960 --> 00:03:12.360 It's a beautiful image. And carries it back. 00:03:12.659 --> 00:03:16.960 Says, rejoicing. And he says to the people, rejoice 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:20.599 with me, the lost sheep is found. The next thing 00:03:20.599 --> 00:03:24.400 is the woman with the drachmas, the coins. And 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:27.199 she has ten of them. She loses one. And then 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:29.479 she sweeps the whole house, looks everywhere 00:03:29.479 --> 00:03:32.819 for it, and finds it. And then she says, rejoice 00:03:32.819 --> 00:03:37.039 with me, for the lost coin has been found. And 00:03:37.039 --> 00:03:41.479 always a coin in the scripture has an image on 00:03:41.479 --> 00:03:44.740 it. And so what it's really talking about is 00:03:44.740 --> 00:03:47.439 the image of God in us. That's the coin that's 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:49.689 lost. And she's not going to be happy with the 00:03:49.689 --> 00:03:52.710 nine. The Lord is not going to be happy with 00:03:52.710 --> 00:03:56.349 the nine. He wants all ten there. It's not about 00:03:56.349 --> 00:04:01.069 money. The third thing is this parable about 00:04:01.069 --> 00:04:05.729 the prodigal son. Wasteful. So there are two 00:04:05.729 --> 00:04:09.810 sons. The younger says, Father, give me what 00:04:09.810 --> 00:04:12.969 is owed to me. He's exercising his free will 00:04:12.969 --> 00:04:16.259 here. In a way, we would say it would be better 00:04:16.259 --> 00:04:18.259 if the father said, no, I don't think you're 00:04:18.259 --> 00:04:21.740 ready. Let's just have you stay here a little 00:04:21.740 --> 00:04:23.839 bit longer until you appreciate who you are and 00:04:23.839 --> 00:04:26.480 where you are. But he doesn't do that because 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:28.819 he gives us this very dangerous thing called 00:04:28.819 --> 00:04:32.620 free will that means that we can be profligate. 00:04:33.459 --> 00:04:36.360 We could go out and be wasteful of the grace 00:04:36.360 --> 00:04:39.120 and the goodness that God gives us. So he gave 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:42.079 this to the young man, gave him his inheritance, 00:04:42.220 --> 00:04:44.910 and after a few days, He went on a road trip, 00:04:45.069 --> 00:04:48.189 headed out. It says he went to a far country. 00:04:48.750 --> 00:04:52.589 And if he's leaving the Father's presence, that 00:04:52.589 --> 00:04:56.329 far country is the fallen place. So he goes to 00:04:56.329 --> 00:05:00.689 that far country. And when he gets there, the 00:05:00.689 --> 00:05:04.050 literal Greek word is that he sort of spews his 00:05:04.050 --> 00:05:07.910 wealth everywhere. Just scatters it like seed. 00:05:08.410 --> 00:05:11.829 And it doesn't last very long. It's not frugal. 00:05:11.850 --> 00:05:14.800 He's not careful. And he spends everything that 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:16.819 he has, and then all of a sudden he finds himself 00:05:16.819 --> 00:05:21.199 in poverty. And in that faraway land, immediately 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:24.339 at that time, the famine comes. Because to be 00:05:24.339 --> 00:05:26.560 honest with you, it's always a famine in that 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:29.980 land. There's no food there. There's no life 00:05:29.980 --> 00:05:33.000 there. It's a place that takes life away from 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:36.759 us. It sucks us dry. So he connected himself 00:05:36.759 --> 00:05:39.720 to a citizen of that country, and we know who 00:05:39.720 --> 00:05:44.519 he is. And so he did the thing to a Jew that 00:05:44.519 --> 00:05:46.800 was the worst thing that could happen to a Jew. 00:05:47.160 --> 00:05:50.920 And he turned him into a pig farmer. The worst 00:05:50.920 --> 00:05:53.560 thing that could happen. So the Lord often gives 00:05:53.560 --> 00:05:56.540 us these real juxtapositions so that we can see 00:05:56.540 --> 00:05:59.899 things clearly. So he's serving the pigs. He's 00:05:59.899 --> 00:06:02.660 caring for the pigs. This is absolute degradation 00:06:02.660 --> 00:06:06.019 for a Jew. And of course these Pharisees are 00:06:06.019 --> 00:06:11.850 hearing this. He feeds them these carob pods. 00:06:12.569 --> 00:06:15.810 And it says that he would like to. He was starving 00:06:15.810 --> 00:06:19.230 himself. Because he's working for the guy. But 00:06:19.230 --> 00:06:22.230 the guy doesn't give him anything. He just gives 00:06:22.230 --> 00:06:24.709 him bad things. And that's the nature of it. 00:06:24.829 --> 00:06:27.470 We think we're getting something. But we're really 00:06:27.470 --> 00:06:31.350 not. Not real life. Not sustenance. Not things 00:06:31.350 --> 00:06:35.689 that matter. So he feeds these pigs carob pods. 00:06:37.339 --> 00:06:39.199 it says that he would like to have eaten them 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:41.420 himself. And I'm thinking, well, why didn't he? 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:43.879 You know, if he'd like to have them, he could. 00:06:44.459 --> 00:06:47.800 But the problem is that pigs get nourishment 00:06:47.800 --> 00:06:50.680 from carob pots because of the teeth that they 00:06:50.680 --> 00:06:52.959 have and the way that their bellies are and everything. 00:06:53.420 --> 00:06:55.920 Humans don't. It's one of those things that if 00:06:55.920 --> 00:06:58.100 you tried to eat it, you would have to chew it 00:06:58.100 --> 00:07:00.800 so long that you would use more calories trying 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:04.720 to eat it than you would get out of it. That's 00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:08.600 hellish food. But that's what hell is like. That's 00:07:08.600 --> 00:07:11.319 what the far country is like. That's what it's 00:07:11.319 --> 00:07:16.360 like to serve that master. Because he takes everything 00:07:16.360 --> 00:07:22.079 away from us. So the prodigal son stands there. 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:26.439 His situation is bleak. There's really no hope 00:07:26.439 --> 00:07:30.500 for him in this place anymore. And this tiny, 00:07:30.600 --> 00:07:33.779 still, small voice goes off in the depth of his 00:07:33.779 --> 00:07:37.639 heart. And he remembers where he came from. He 00:07:37.639 --> 00:07:40.720 remembers his father's house. Because he is made 00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:42.759 in the image of his father and his likeness. 00:07:43.800 --> 00:07:46.500 And that is alive within him no matter what he 00:07:46.500 --> 00:07:49.639 does. It's always alive within him. And it speaks 00:07:49.639 --> 00:07:53.620 out in his desperation as so often happens to 00:07:53.620 --> 00:08:00.360 us. And in that moment, the son remembers. He 00:08:00.360 --> 00:08:03.459 remembers who he is. in the words of scripture, 00:08:03.800 --> 00:08:05.860 they're really well stated. It says he comes 00:08:05.860 --> 00:08:09.500 to himself because he had gone out of himself. 00:08:10.379 --> 00:08:14.680 He was living in a way that was not real. So 00:08:14.680 --> 00:08:18.040 he came to himself and he had a very penitent 00:08:18.040 --> 00:08:21.019 heart and he wanted to go back to be with his 00:08:21.019 --> 00:08:23.360 father because he thought, well, you know, I 00:08:23.360 --> 00:08:26.519 may not deserve to be a son, but at least the 00:08:26.519 --> 00:08:29.550 servants have plenty to eat. And they have a 00:08:29.550 --> 00:08:31.689 better life. A way better life than I have now. 00:08:31.790 --> 00:08:35.649 I'll go back and ask if I can be a servant. Because 00:08:35.649 --> 00:08:40.549 I don't deserve to be a son. So he repented in 00:08:40.549 --> 00:08:43.350 the literal sense. Because he had gone to the 00:08:43.350 --> 00:08:47.350 far country. But he had a metanoia. A change 00:08:47.350 --> 00:08:50.789 of heart. He turned with his body. And that's 00:08:50.789 --> 00:08:54.309 important. And he started in the next direction. 00:08:54.750 --> 00:08:56.690 Because that's the true nature of repentance. 00:08:57.009 --> 00:09:00.129 Sometimes we think repentance. is something where 00:09:00.129 --> 00:09:02.950 we should feel really bad about something. And 00:09:02.950 --> 00:09:04.929 if we feel bad long enough and beat ourselves 00:09:04.929 --> 00:09:07.710 up long enough and are mournful and all that 00:09:07.710 --> 00:09:12.230 sort of thing, maybe do enough sort of self -flagellation 00:09:12.230 --> 00:09:14.870 and what have you, that ultimately God will sort 00:09:14.870 --> 00:09:17.710 of be satisfied. That's not our theology, by 00:09:17.710 --> 00:09:22.330 the way. It's from another place. And that we 00:09:22.330 --> 00:09:25.909 will satisfy him with our repentance. That isn't 00:09:25.909 --> 00:09:29.889 what he wants. Repentance is to turn and go in 00:09:29.889 --> 00:09:32.769 a different direction. That's real repentance. 00:09:33.210 --> 00:09:35.570 That's what we're after. We're heading in the 00:09:35.570 --> 00:09:38.450 wrong way. We turn and head in the right way. 00:09:38.529 --> 00:09:42.210 That pleases him because it brings hope. So the 00:09:42.210 --> 00:09:46.210 prodigal son does that. He takes that action 00:09:46.210 --> 00:09:49.789 and he heads back in the right direction. And 00:09:49.789 --> 00:09:53.230 the interesting thing is, and this is where we 00:09:53.230 --> 00:09:57.700 really see the nature of God. In his life, we 00:09:57.700 --> 00:10:01.799 see the nature of God in our lives. We see the 00:10:01.799 --> 00:10:05.659 nature of God, how God feels about us. And there 00:10:05.659 --> 00:10:09.399 are some verbs, some actions that take place. 00:10:09.700 --> 00:10:16.700 First, the father says. When he was still far 00:10:16.700 --> 00:10:20.320 away off, his father saw him. So, number one, 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:24.539 he was on the porch looking. He was waiting. 00:10:24.679 --> 00:10:29.139 He was looking. For that lost son. Because he 00:10:29.139 --> 00:10:32.480 wants him to be at home. He wants to bring him 00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:36.080 home. He's not thinking. I hope that scoundrel 00:10:36.080 --> 00:10:38.179 never comes home. Because of the way he wasted 00:10:38.179 --> 00:10:41.059 my money. And did the things that he did. But 00:10:41.059 --> 00:10:44.379 rather. I want him home. I'm waiting for him. 00:10:44.440 --> 00:10:48.559 I'm watching for him. And so he's watching. Then 00:10:48.559 --> 00:10:51.679 it says. And the father saw him. Just like the 00:10:51.679 --> 00:10:55.600 Lord last week. A couple of weeks ago. And it. 00:10:56.269 --> 00:10:58.929 transformed Zacchaeus' life. As soon as Zacchaeus' 00:10:58.950 --> 00:11:01.929 eyes met the Lord's eyes, he brought him down 00:11:01.929 --> 00:11:04.690 and changed his life. So the father saw him at 00:11:04.690 --> 00:11:09.409 a great distance. God sees us and changes our 00:11:09.409 --> 00:11:13.210 lives. So he sees him, and then it says that 00:11:13.210 --> 00:11:18.370 he had compassion on him. He didn't go out and 00:11:18.370 --> 00:11:22.690 say, what a horrible kid you are. I can't believe 00:11:22.690 --> 00:11:26.250 you have the nerve to come home. This in Greek, 00:11:26.289 --> 00:11:30.110 the word that's used here is like deep, heartfelt, 00:11:30.529 --> 00:11:35.750 deep, gut felt compassion. He longed, longed 00:11:35.750 --> 00:11:40.549 for the son to come home. So he had compassion 00:11:40.549 --> 00:11:43.909 on him. And then he ran, which an adult Jew would 00:11:43.909 --> 00:11:48.470 never do. It's a metaphor of just letting go 00:11:48.470 --> 00:11:51.730 because of the love that he feels. So he ran 00:11:51.730 --> 00:11:57.039 to him, fell on his neck. And fervently kissed 00:11:57.039 --> 00:12:01.240 him. Just in the south we would say he loved 00:12:01.240 --> 00:12:04.940 on him. You know when someone's feeling sad down 00:12:04.940 --> 00:12:07.820 there we always say you need to go love on Bill 00:12:07.820 --> 00:12:11.159 because he's having a hard time. So this is what 00:12:11.159 --> 00:12:15.500 the Lord does. He responds to him and he loves 00:12:15.500 --> 00:12:20.120 on him. Loves him. Expresses it through that 00:12:20.120 --> 00:12:24.299 most intimate of ways through kissing. And so 00:12:24.299 --> 00:12:28.899 the son has a prepared speech, doesn't he? He 00:12:28.899 --> 00:12:30.940 already knows what he wants to say, what he's 00:12:30.940 --> 00:12:33.960 going to say. So he starts in on it. Father, 00:12:34.039 --> 00:12:37.059 I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. 00:12:37.139 --> 00:12:40.559 I'm no longer worthy to be your son. But the 00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:43.519 father doesn't need that because he's already 00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:47.000 seen his repentance, hasn't he? He sees his repentance 00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:50.320 in his action. He doesn't need to do more than 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:54.090 that. It's kind of like the son is back here 00:12:54.090 --> 00:12:56.909 trying to catch up with all this, where the father's 00:12:56.909 --> 00:12:59.610 already made his response. He's brought him back. 00:13:00.090 --> 00:13:05.570 And so next actions of the father. He brings 00:13:05.570 --> 00:13:09.769 out his best robe. Now, again, in the Greek, 00:13:09.830 --> 00:13:12.970 the word is original, his original robe, the 00:13:12.970 --> 00:13:15.789 one he had before he left, the image of God, 00:13:15.970 --> 00:13:20.840 right? So he brings out his original robe. his 00:13:20.840 --> 00:13:25.500 wedding garment, and places it on him. Then he 00:13:25.500 --> 00:13:29.840 put a ring on his hand, and that would be a signet 00:13:29.840 --> 00:13:33.419 ring. And that would be, if you were in the Galooly 00:13:33.419 --> 00:13:37.019 family, and John's father passed on and he handed 00:13:37.019 --> 00:13:40.740 him his signet ring, then he would now have the 00:13:40.740 --> 00:13:44.519 authority to press that into a wax seal, and 00:13:44.519 --> 00:13:46.340 we would know that that was from his family. 00:13:47.080 --> 00:13:50.139 So what he's doing is he's bringing him back 00:13:50.139 --> 00:13:54.519 into the family. He's making him an heir again. 00:13:55.159 --> 00:13:59.220 And then he puts sandals on his feet. Why? Because 00:13:59.220 --> 00:14:01.860 he's not a slave anymore. Slaves could not wear 00:14:01.860 --> 00:14:06.960 shoes or sandals. Only freemen could. So in making 00:14:06.960 --> 00:14:09.759 him a son, in giving him his wedding garment, 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:13.700 in giving him the seal, the image of the family, 00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:17.950 he's restored in that. And then he takes him 00:14:17.950 --> 00:14:22.389 out of slavery and makes him a son again, completely 00:14:22.389 --> 00:14:25.470 restores him to everything that he had before. 00:14:27.950 --> 00:14:30.210 And then he says, bring the fatted calf, kill 00:14:30.210 --> 00:14:32.409 it, let us eat and make merry. And of course, 00:14:32.409 --> 00:14:36.990 this is a Eucharistic image. So there isn't time 00:14:36.990 --> 00:14:44.019 to talk about the older son. He behaved. Very 00:14:44.019 --> 00:14:46.440 incorrectly, much like the scribes and Pharisees 00:14:46.440 --> 00:14:51.600 were. But in the end, we get a word that we had 00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:56.659 in the lost coin, in the lost sheep. And that 00:14:56.659 --> 00:15:02.919 is, we should rejoice and make merry and be glad. 00:15:03.580 --> 00:15:07.320 For your brother was dead and is alive again, 00:15:07.419 --> 00:15:13.370 was lost and is found. Was he dead? Yes, he was 00:15:13.370 --> 00:15:16.649 spiritually dead, wasn't he? You can be physically 00:15:16.649 --> 00:15:20.389 alive and spiritually dead, and that is not a 00:15:20.389 --> 00:15:26.269 good thing. So he went from the death of living 00:15:26.269 --> 00:15:30.570 to the true life of living. He stopped existing 00:15:30.570 --> 00:15:35.149 and became alive again. He was lost and he was 00:15:35.149 --> 00:15:43.190 found. So we should never feel That we are too 00:15:43.190 --> 00:15:47.549 far away or too lost to be restored. Because 00:15:47.549 --> 00:15:50.429 the prodigal son did this in what seems like 00:15:50.429 --> 00:15:53.289 in the story. He went out and he was restored 00:15:53.289 --> 00:15:57.850 and then he came back. But this image that takes 00:15:57.850 --> 00:15:59.750 place from his father is an image of baptism 00:15:59.750 --> 00:16:04.570 as well. And we unfortunately go for visits to 00:16:04.570 --> 00:16:10.679 that far country. Quite regularly. there's always 00:16:10.679 --> 00:16:15.080 the same way home. And since he tells us that 00:16:15.080 --> 00:16:20.460 we should forgive, 70 times 7, then we know that 00:16:20.460 --> 00:16:23.519 he offers us the same forgiveness. He's never 00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:28.320 mean. The Fathers teaches that the wrath of God, 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:31.399 which we think of as the meanness of God, is 00:16:31.399 --> 00:16:34.580 really always pedagogic. He's always teaching 00:16:34.580 --> 00:16:37.639 us something when difficult things come into 00:16:37.639 --> 00:16:41.210 our lives. But ultimately, all he really cares 00:16:41.210 --> 00:16:46.029 about is to bring us home, to take us from death 00:16:46.029 --> 00:16:51.909 to life, to take us from lost to found. And we 00:16:51.909 --> 00:16:55.110 should never in our hearts condemn ourselves 00:16:55.110 --> 00:16:58.690 to the point that we think that God cannot forgive 00:16:58.690 --> 00:17:03.210 us or restore us or bring us back into his love 00:17:03.210 --> 00:17:06.349 and his grace. That's what this parable is about. 00:17:07.309 --> 00:17:10.869 Don't ever lose heart. Even when you read patristic 00:17:10.869 --> 00:17:14.289 books sometimes that make you think things are 00:17:14.289 --> 00:17:18.650 so harsh that it's impossible. It is not. This 00:17:18.650 --> 00:17:22.569 is the Lord telling us, no, it's not impossible. 00:17:23.490 --> 00:17:27.809 It is ultimately exactly what he wants to do. 00:17:28.230 --> 00:17:30.269 In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy 00:17:30.269 --> 00:17:31.369 Spirit. Amen.