4^th Sunday of Lent
As we know this is a parable that Jesus says when the Pharisees question about Jesus’ eating with the tax collectors and the sinners. Jesus tells them this parable in order to teach them how merciful God is toward the lost ones. Secondly, he wants to teach them that He came for such as these lost ones. We could draw several themes from this passage. But I would like to reflect with you on one particular theme that is “THE MERCIFUL FATHER” for the Church celebrates the year of mercy. The first part of the parable speaks about how rude was the younger son to ask for half of his father’s property and run away from the family. In Jewish culture asking for the properties while the father is still alive is like wishing that his father is no more. It is a great insult to his father. Secondly he wants to run away from the family. This is one after another shock to his father. Now the father has to suffer the loss of his property, self- respect and ultimately the loss of his own son. And we know rest of the story.

It is in this background, the father awaits with hope the coming of his lost son. The father who suffered the loss of property, self-image and finally his fatherhood because of the loss of his son is waiting eagerly for his son’s return. He does not have any hurt feeling, no grudge, no regret, no anger. The only feeling he had was the feeling of the loss of his son, the feeling of not being able to show his love to his son who is most in need of it. After having squandered all his money the son comes to his sense. For the father to be able to once again show his love for him the son needed to come to his sense and realize his mistake and return to the father. Sometime many of us act on our animal instinct. We fail to be ourselves, we become unconscious of ourselves. Even after some struggle if we come to our senses, it becomes very difficult to admit our sins and return to the father. This is the kind of occasion Satan would be looking for to mislead us in our journey. He would not let us return to the father. Here we need lots of perseverance and courage to make a decision.
The author narrates rest of the story so beautifully. The father runs towards the son when he sees him in a distance. In the first century Jewish society, the younger ones will go to the elders, not vice versa. Here we see that the father runs toward the son. The father is willing to give up all his self-image, his status in the society, his position as an elder in the family for the sake of his lost son who returns. He embraces him. It is the sign of reconciliation. In the true sense the son is the one who is supposed to take initiative to reconcile with his father for he is the guilty one. But here the father takes initiative to reconcile with his son though he is not guilty of anything. That is the kind of love God the father wants to show to his children. He does not count on your sins, your initiative. He only counts on the repentance of your heart. He does the rest. He does not ask him to give him the accounts for his wealth; he does not even ask why he did that, no questions, no inquiries. His repentance of heart has washed away all his past life. Now he is a new man. He has to begin his new life in his father’s house. As a sign of his new life the father puts on new clothes and gives him a grand feast: unexpected by the son and incomprehensible for our knowledge. But that is what our heavenly father is. His love for his children is unfathomably so rich which our human mind cannot grasp.

And we know rest of the story: the conversation between the father and the elder son. The author does not give the conclusion of the conversation between the father and the elder son. He leaves it to the reader to decide. It is an invitation from God to every one of us to be ready to be forgiven and to forgive one another. If I were to continue where the author stops the story, God would ask us, I am your God and I am willing to forgive your sins then what does hold you from forgiving your offenders?