Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today is Laetare Sunday which means rejoice. The whole liturgy invites us to rejoice. How can we not rejoice with today’s gospel that the Lord gives us. It is a shout of joy. I was moved when I proclaimed this gospel of the Prodigal Son. How wonderful for those who have been able to experience this gospel because it is to touch heaven, especially if you are the younger brother or even the older brother; it is a grace to see yourself in this gospel.
It’s delightful from the very beginning when it says, “Tax collectors and sinners were drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’” So, we have two groups of people, one who listens and hears the Word and the preaching because they are sinners or tax collectors. Only a sinner can listen calmly and with attention. A Pharisee and a scribe do not listen, and they murmur. Perhaps in your house there are many who know it all. They apply the law and the Scriptures to everyone, except themselves.
There are many Pharisees who are good and do everything well. However, we see another kind at the end of the gospel who says, “Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a goat to feast on with my friends.” He does not enter the celebration, well we don’t know if he did or not, but we can see that he does not want to enter it and is not happy.
The liturgy invites us to rejoice, but the Pharisee is not cheerful and is never cheerful about anything because he thinks forgiveness is owed to him, is due to him. That God loves him is appropriate because he is good and does everything right and God has to love those like him. I say woe to you because you will not be able to enter the Kingdom of heaven. The kingdom is this: to experience you spent your entire inheritance from your Father, who is God, who loves you so much that he doesn’t judge you. This gospel is exquisite, and we could speak about it for years. It is a literary jewel, one of Christ’s greatest parables. What a profound example that touches our hearts. Some have suggested that the gospel should be called ‘A Man Who Had Two Sons’ not the Prodigal Son.
I am sure you know it and it starts with the younger son telling the father that he is already dead for him. He says by his request that you are already gone, and you add nothing to my life. I don’t care about you so give me what is mine. It is impressive to see the love of the father. He does not judge him or treat him badly or say what kind of son are you? No, he gives him what he asks for and lets him go. His love is shown in the freedom he gives his son.
Have you ever seen this kind of love, this freedom that a father offers to his son? Here you go, you are free to do evil or to do good. Have you ever seen this before? He doesn’t oblige him to do good or to do anything. However, the father suffers because he knows the son is suffering because he is orphaned, and he is going to a distant country. How far are you from the Lord today? How far away is that place from where you should be? Where are you spending the inheritance that you received?
This is a serious word for the children who are here because they cannot live off the inheritance of faith from their parents. One day it will come to an end. At the beginning all is great but there comes a time when you can no longer live off the faith of your parents. It is necessary for you to have a mature faith. The prodigal son goes crazy and spends everything wildly. This man has gone lower than the pigs. He has touched bottom, down to the depths; he is the worst. To be the worst is to be in hell, the deepest hell and from there he reconsiders his situation. There is still a seed of faith, as well as the Holy Spirit is still acting in him. The Holy Spirit is the one who is within you and says that you have a father who loves you and wants you to go home. Today you can return, and you will not be treated badly by that father. If this son knew his father would throw a stone at him before he went to the house, he would never have returned.
The father sees him again and discovers at some point what is the perfect response: not to punish him and let him be free. At that point he won over his son who will always knew that he has a father who loves him and that is why he returned. The father loves him so much he does not even let him finish his prepared speech. He thought I shall say to my father, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would one of your hired workers.” But the father will not let him finish and says, “Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him and put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again, he was lost, and has been found.”
The best clothing is not for the son who has been always there. It is for the disgraced son, the prodigal son. He wants to give him the best clothing, the best calf, the one who was being fattened for the big feast. Here this is for you! The fattened calf is Christ that you will have today in this Eucharist. Today, the Lord, your wonderfully merciful father, goes out running towards you, which is amazing and will sacrifice his only son for you so that you can eat at this wonderful feast. This banquet is the Eucharist, and it is for you, if you believe this! This father comes out running and hugs him and drowns him in kisses. Have you ever experienced this in your life? Have you ever experienced this love of God that is so merciful? I hope I never get tired of saying this.
God’s mercy is his love for you when you don’t deserve it. He forgives when you should not be forgiven. This son should not be pardoned for what he did he should be killed. But God the Father goes out in search of him when he is still far away, even before he reached the house. How amazing is that! Then there’s the older brother who does not want to enter the house. This brother might be us. You may be the one who thinks I am better than the other.
When you ask God your father for something and he does not give it to you, why does he do that? Is it because he sees you are a Pharisee or because you don’t realize your poverty, or your weaknesses? It is a good thing that all the Pharisees were not an obstacle and that there were some who converted, like St. Paul, and many more, I hope. And one day it could be you because the Lord loves the Pharisees very much. This gospel is for them so don’t be afraid. What a wonderful thing to have this gospel during Lent and on this Laetare Sunday that invites us to rejoice. Rejoice, brother, you have an extremely generous father; a father that forgives you everything, everything, and who loves you always. He has always loved you, always, even when you longed to eat what the pigs would not eat. He goes out in search of you and runs to where you are.
How many of us here need God to come running today to our life? When we start the morning prayer, the priest or the layperson says, O God, come to my assistance. The response is: –Lord, make haste to help me. Hurry, Lord, come running so that I am not alone. I am dying, I am sick, I am stuck in idolatry or in drugs, or in a disordered sexuality. Lord, I cannot be faithful to my spouse, I am stuck in pornography, come quickly!
I hope you see yourself as that son and you have already spent everything, and you are stuck. Be at peace, this word wants to be fulfilled in you. I see that I am a mess, I don’t deserve to be called your son or to call myself a Christian. Don’t worry, it is the Lord who will make you a Christian. He will put a ring on your finger and dress you in the finest robe and bring you back into his house.
What son is further away from the father? The one who was in the house because the younger son was united to his father’s love and that is why he returned. The older one, however, says, “All these years I have served you …and you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends.” He was further away from his father. This is why we don’t judge and then we will not be judged. Let us love the brother or sister at this time.
God has placed you next to your boss, or your co-worker, or you mother-in-law, and has given you this time for friendship so that you don’t think that you are better than the other. The older brother thinks he is better than the younger one but it turns out he is much further away from the father. It is for this reason that Christ goes to eat with the publicans and sinners because they are the needy ones. Invite the poor one into your home; he is Christ!