4th Sunday of Lent (C)
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Our Lady of the Rosary, NOLA
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Our Lady of the Rosary, NOLA
Something
draws sinners to Jesus. Tax collectors, prostitutes, all sorts of
disobedient souls are pulled into his presence by. . .what
exactly? What is there about Christ that attracts those who have
put themselves outside of God's good graces? You would think that
sinners would run and hide when he shows up to preach. But the only
creatures who cringe at his approach are the unclean spirits, the
demons. The gospels report that when our Lord walks into town, a
crowd gathers. Some are there in hopes of seeing a magic trick.
Others out of curiosity to hear what this guy has to say. Sprinkled
throughout the crowd though are men and women whose deeply seeded
desire for holiness is struck like a bell when Jesus comes near.
There's just something about who and what Jesus is that makes these
sinners drop whatever they are doing and run to be with him. What is
this “something”? Whatever it is, the Pharisees and scribes are
unhappy with the fact that a rabbi is eating and drinking with
sinners. When they complain, Jesus tells them a parable about a
long-lost son and his welcomed return home. This prodigal son leaves
his life of sinful dissipation and starts a life of grateful
celebration. Can we – former sinners and sinners alike – describe
our lives as “grateful celebrations”?
The
standard way of reading the Parable of the Prodigal Son goes like
this. . .the son is the sinner; the father is God; and the good son
is the Pharisee. When the sinner-son returns home after wasting his
inheritance on wine, women, and song, his father throws a party to
welcome him back. The good son (Pharisee) angrily objects to the
party b/c his sinner-brother hasn't earned their father's
forgiveness. The father responds “My son, you are here with me
always. . .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.” Here's my question: what draws the sinner-son back to his
father to live his life in grateful celebration? What is it about the
father that attracts his son home? The sinner-son and the father
share a habit of the heart: both are prone to prodigality,
dissipation. For the son, this habit is a vice; for the father,
it is a virtue. The father's welcome home feast is no less
extravagant, no less excessive than the son's squandering of his
inheritance. Both lavishly spend, both are reckless in their
indulgence. However, while the son viciously spends money to sin, the
father virtuously spends mercy to love. The son is drawn home to his
father by a deeply seeded desire to have his own love perfected. In
his father's mercy, the son's love is made perfect.
And
imperfections always seek their perfection. A sin, of example, is
always an act of imperfect love. Even when we are wrong about a
choice, we think we are choosing the good. Sinners are drawn to Jesus
like magnets, pulled toward his perfect love for them. His loving
presence – extravagant, abundant, indulgent, perfect – seduces
sinners, reels them in. We see in him and hear from him the holiness
we long for, the righteousness we were made for. His fullness shames
our emptiness and so we draw close so that we might be filled. Our
Lord too is a prodigal child, a son of excessive love, abundant
mercy, indulgent forgiveness, and perfect hope. He spent his life for
us on the Cross, an act of holy abandon, a complete surrender to
death so that we might live. If we draw near to him and confess our
imperfections, we too are welcomed home to the Father. Made perfect
by Love Himself. Thus, there is nothing else for us to do than to
spend our lives in grateful celebration, giving thanks and praise,
lifting up our burdens and seeing them taken away. Long or short,
dull or exciting, the life of a faithful follower of Christ is a life
lived in rejoicing, in grateful celebration. For us, if we turn to
God for mercy, everyday warrants a fattened calf.
As
the Lenten season slowly draws to a close, we have this Laetare
Sunday, Rejoicing Sunday, to celebrate the Father's abundant and
always freely offered mercy to sinners. Remember: our disobedience
does not hurt God. Sin hurts the sinner. Sin hurts the Church. And
only by answering the desire for mercy and reconciliation with the
Father through the Church can the sins of a vicious life be cleared.
Take the time remaining in Lent to examine your conscience, turn
around, confess your sins, and return to your Father's home. There
may not be a fattened calf waiting on the grill when we get there. .
.but – like the Prodigal Son – you will know the happiness and
abundant forgiveness of Love Himself.
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