4th Sunday of Lent
(C)
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
OLR, NOLA
If
you were the older son in this parable, I'm betting you'd be angry
too. I'm also betting that if you were the younger son – the
Prodigal Son – you'd be overwhelmed with joy to be received back
into your family. This parable remains a powerful spiritual lesson
after 2,000 years b/c on any given day, each one of us can identify
with either the Older Son or the Prodigal Son. We might even identify
with both at different times in the same day. Who here hasn't been
relieved of the burdens of sin and felt truly grateful? And who here
hasn't resented That Sinner Over There being forgiven w/o so much as
a slap on the wrist? When TSOT is me, I'm delighted. But when it's
someone else – esp. someone who's hurt me – I'm resentful. During
Lent, we face our temptations head-on and deny them through our
victory with Christ on the cross. The temptation we are confronted
with this evening is envy. So, our question is: are you envious of
the Father's mercy toward others? Do you resent His generosity in
forgiving the sins of others?
The
older son is angry b/c his father welcomes back his wastrel of a
younger brother. There's a feast of fattened calf. Gifts. Wine.
Back-slapping. Tears of joy. Lots of hugging. And no one seems to be
paying much attention to the fact that the young man abandoned his
family; left the older brother to do his share of the work, and all
the while blowing his inheritance on wine and prostitutes. Why
is our father celebrating my brother's sins? Why isn't he heaping
scorn and abuse on him? Why aren't we all shunning him and making
sure that we knows how much we disapprove of his behavior?
It doesn't take much for us to put ourselves in the older son's
shoes. Other peoples' public sins need to be point out, named as
such, and the sinner admonished. Even better: shame the sinner into
repenting publicly and then show him/her doing penance. Call this a
deterrent to future sin. If we don't see all this Penitent Drama for
ourselves, then we really can't say for sure that the sinner has been
properly punished, now can we? From the Christian perspective, what's
missing here? What is the Older Son missing in his petulant anger?
His father answers, “My son, you are here with me always;
everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice,
because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost
and has been found.’”
The
father in the parable tells his angry son to celebrate the return of
his repentant brother. Our Father in heaven tells us to celebrate the
return of our repentant brothers and sisters. Rather than worry about
the sin, rejoice that a sinner has come home. Rather than agonize
over whether or not forgiveness signals that a sin isn't really a
sin, rejoice that a sinner has turned back to the Lord. Rather than
be angry that a sinner – even a lately repentant sinner – has
finally repented, rejoice that the Father's mercy is freely given to
all who ask for it. In other words, if you are going to choose to be
a character in this parable, always choose to be either the Prodigal
Son or the Forgiving Father. . .never the angry, envious Older Son.
Choose to come home, repentant and receive the Father's welcome.
Choose to be the one who welcomes the sinner home and throws him/her
a party for finding the way once again. Never choose to be the one
who out of jealousy and petulance separates himself from his Father
by being envious of God's infinite and unfailing generosity. That
infinite and unfailing generosity includes you. . .always. As we
quickly close on Holy Week and Easter, now is the time to repent of
any jealousies, envious thoughts or words, esp. if those thoughts and
words begrudge others of the Father's mercy for their sins. Remember
what Jesus said to us last week: “Repent, or you will all perish.”
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