1. Exodus
32:7-11,13-14
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2.1Timothy1:12-17
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Luke15: 1-32
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" Mercy
should take precedence over justice"
During the catechetical
instructions for catechumens, a certain priest after had having gone through
the story of the prodigal son, asked the catechumens the following
question," At the end of the story who is it that ended up in the worst
situation?" One of the catechumens answered, " The fatted cow."
This was the animal loving person,
certainly he was correct to respond in that manner, however the answer a priest
expected was " The elder son."
The parable of the
prodigal son begins with a request. The
prodigal Son says to his father: " father give the share of your state
that should come to me." In this context we are given our first insight
concerning sin. Sin always involves the misuse of something good. For example, sins
of the tongue like gossip, slander, swearing and lying all involve the misuse
of something good, namely, the God-given gift of speech. Sins of the flesh are
committed when people misuse the good gift of sexuality which the Lord intends
for marriage only. Let us notice that in this story the younger son requested
the share of the estate that was coming
to him. He was not making an improper request. He was not asking
something evil. He was requesting
something good which his father was planning to give him anyway. Nevertheless
his sin came when he misused the good gift and squandered his inheritance on
what the gospel calls " dissolute living."
Likewise, in the
parable of the prodigal Son we can identify three main characters: The father,
the younger son, and the elder son. The
young son in character seems to be volatile, impatient, easily bored
ready-to-try-everything teenager. He collect his inheritance, goes abroad to
see the world, and squanders his birth right in loose living. He actually represents
every sinner. In sin we squander our human and divine birthright and in the end
we are no better than in the beginning. Usually sin promises us life of
happiness, satisfaction and excitement but in the end all we get out of it is
misery, wretchedness, dissatisfaction, depression, and a loss of the sense of
personal dignity that belongs to us as God's children. The good news is that no
matter how deeply the sinner sinks into sin, there is always a still, silent
inner voice within us inviting us to come back to our Father's house where true
freedom and satisfaction is to be found.
What kind of God's
image do we understand from this parable? in the parable there is a father who
is so loving that he lets his rascally son have whatever he wanted. With
ordinary senses we can even say he spoils the boy. Sometimes we have this image of God as a very
stern, demanding father who is always read to whip us into line. However, this
is very far from the image of God we have in this parable. In the parable God
is presented as a tender loving father who is easy on his children, and who is
ready to forgive, no matter what. If this is how God relates to us, then we can
see that God possesses the tender-loving quality mother as well as the
tough-loving quality of father.
Furthermore, there is
the elder son who is introduced at the end of the story. If you want to
describe the elder son by one word you could call him a gentleman. He is a man
of honor, solid, hardworking, consistent, disciplined, and sober- a perfect
gentleman. In the elder son we see the virtues, as well as the vices, of middle
class morality. Then what are the vices of middle class morality? Arrogance,
better-than-insensitivity and a spirit of unforgiveness. The elder son exhibits
these vices in the way he refuses to welcome his lost and found brother, his
father's explanation and invitation notwithstanding. He must have his pound of
flesh. For him it is a matter of justice, but for God that is nothing but
self-centeredness and unwillingness to forgive.
What are some aspects
depicted in the first son also found in us? it is clear that the first son
syndrome is very much alive among us. do you remember what took place during
the execution of the formal president of Iraq, Saadam Husein? Saadam Husein in
all aspects he appeared to be deserving the capital punishment. The video clips
that showed his execution, showed some people who were gathered outside and
inside the execution prison, some of those people were there to demand justice
to be done by really seeing that Saadam Husein was to be executed in response
to evils he comitted, thus they were cheering
and jeering as he was hanged. However there were some people who were
for him, they thought that justice was not done to their president. Those who
protested against hanging of Sadaam Husein prayed for love, mercy and
forgiveness while the cheering group was calling for justice. The parable of
the prodigal Son reminds us today that for God love and compassion takes
precedence over blind justice.
Puritanism is always
confused with Christianity. To be puritanical is to be scrupulously demanding
in religious conduct and morals. For such a person the number one virtue is
discipline. To be a Christian, on the other hand, is to profess and live
according to the example and teaching of
Christ. Here the primary virtue is love and compassion. As Christians we
believe in a God of love and compassion. Jesus was a man of love of compassion
both in his teaching and in his dealings
with others. The challenge for us Christians today is to be people of love and
compassion, to like the prodigal father in the parable and not like the
uncompromising elder son in a world full of prodigal sons and daughters.
This homily is much related to the homily of 4th Sunday of Lent Year C.Thus you can revisit the homily archive in this blog for more understanding on the parable of the prodigal Son.
JibuFuta