Before Jesus told His most magnificent and perfect story of all literature called "The "Prodigal Son" (Today's Mass reading in Luke: 15: 11-32), no one ever knew who God the Father really was. This story revealed God as a loving, forgiving Father more than any book of the Old Testament had ever revealed - even more fully than Jonah encountered in the Lord's treatment and compassion for the people of Neneveh. Actually, this Prodigal Son story revealed the Father that no literature has ever revealed before or after Christ composed this story. I beleve that no story in the Christian future will reveal the Father's love better because Jesus told this story for ALL future generations. Please know that by the talent given to me by God, I am a painter and have done a portrait of Jesus on the wall of St. Timothy's that is 23 feet by 20 feet. Jesus' eyes are the kindest and most merciful and most loving of any portrait I have ever seen done of Jesus. But this Prodigal Son Story is JESUS' MOST PERFECT PORTRAIT OF HIS FATHER EVER COMPOSED OR PAINTED ON THE MINDS AND SOULS OF MEN! Here is why:
1) No one ever had heard this story before which was the "Revelation of Revelations" because no one ever dreamed before that God the Father would be looking down the road each day to see if His son (or daughter - all of us) were coming up the road ...coming home..or not...which reveals that the Father does the same right now..looking for us to come home when we have parted from him..have been away...in sin. God understands that "sin" is fundamentally our looking for happiness apart from Him. This is what happened to Lucifer and to Adam and Eve...and happens to all of us in varying degrees.
2) No one ever knew that the Father was so "respectful of the free will" of his "prodigal son" as to have let him go in the first place to use his talents and His Dad's resources to find happiness in "a far off country" [the true translation of the Hebrew words of Jesus for "far off country" is "the big emptiness."] away from the Father...to find happiness apart from the Father eventhough the Father knew his son would never find happiness apart from Him. The Father knew that if we look for happiness in the wrong places, we will not find it..and eventually, hopefully "come home." (But some of us do not come home to God and continue to live a life of unhappiness, which happened to Judas and Hitler. But we do not know yet how the Father's mercy has touched even them.) This story was meant by Jesus to invite ALL of us to not be afraid to "come home" to the open arms of our His and our Father.
3) No one ever heard that the Father would totally pardon such a prodigal sinner without a scolding or punishment as we see evidenced when our imagination sees the Father RUNNING to meet and embrace and kiss His son ....who had been lumbering up the road....as he rehearsed his act of contrition: "Father, I have sinned against heaven and earth. I do not deserved to be your son. Make me as one of your hired hands..." But the boy could hardly get these words out before the Father put a new robe and ring on his finger..and sandals on his feet and gave him a great and wonderful celebration. The Father pulled out all stops to have a "feasts of feasts!" because "My son was lost and now is found...was dead and has now come back to life."
BUT the elder "good son" who stayed home and never went off to spend his Dad's money on loose women - when he heard the singing and dancing and merriment asked one of the servants what was going on. "The servant answered, 'Your brother is home, and your father has killed the fatted calf because he has him back in good health.'"
"The (elder) son grew angry at this and would not go in; but his father came out and began to plead with him. He said to his father in reply: 'For years now I have slaved for you. I never disobeyed one of your orders, yet you never gave me so much as a kid goat to celebrate with my friends. Then, when this son of yours returns after having gone through your property with loose women, you kill the fatted calf for him.' ...'My son,' replied the father, 'you are with me always, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice! This brother of yours was dead, and has come back to life. He was lost, and is found.'" What is so wonderful about the Father's compassionate response to his uncompassionate elder son is this: The Father acts much like Jesus on the Cross: "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing." This compassion that Jesus has for those who are killing Him is so much the Father's love and compassion for His elder son who does NOT have any compassion on his younger brother. The elder son says, "this son of yours" whereas the Father says, "this brother of yours." So, eventhough the elder son had no compassion on his younger son, the Father still had compassion for the elder son's who was so short sighted and selfish.
The sin of the non-prodigal son was greater than the prodigal son's sins because the elder son totally was so self-focused as to not see the GOOD in his brother's return home from a sinful life. The servants saw the good. The prodigal son saw the good. The Father saw the good. But the elder did not see ANY good in the prodigal son's return. That total lack of empathy and compassion was due to two things: a lack of real intimacy with the Father and the total lack of intimcy with his brother. Why is that? Love is all about other-centerness not self-centerness. Self absorbtion cause the soul to be isolated and uncompassionate. Let us not be like this. The elder son's sin was deliberate and chosen. The prodigal son's sins were predicated on human weakness and delusion of what happiness was. But the prodigal son came to his senses..and started for hom. The elder son was home and did not start to love his Father.
What is amazing in this story is the Father's RUNNING to meet, embrace and kiss his returning prodig-centerness. al son and this last above scene of deep love and sincerity shown by the Father as He explains to the good elder son that we must rejoice and celebrate the return of our brothers and sisters who come home to God the Father. Before this story told by Jesus in just 21 lines of holy, inspired Scripture, no one ever imagined the Father to be so personal, so affectionate, so totally forgiving and pardoning. This story is the greatest story ever told in the New Testament and in all of literature. The greatest story told in the Old Testament is the true story of a real historical person: the story of Job who also seemed as dead and came back to life again. The Story of Job and the Story of Joseph of Egypt and the Prodigal Son are all types of pre-figuring Christ who would be dead and come back to life again. Job in the end celebrated his new life with abundant rejoicing and blessings from God who more than doubled all Job had lost. Job's fidelity to God like Jesus' fidelity in great trial and sufferng merited him to come into the Kingdom of God's blessing and love. Joseph was presumed dead by his father, Isaac, but turned out to be very much alive and actually saved all of Israel from famine by giving them the grain (bread of life) and by forgiving all his brothers. Now in this prodigal son story, the prodigal son is a sinner..which sins Jesus takes on and reconciles everyone in His very own Person back to the Father by dying in the place of everyone. Eating the forbidden fruit brought death into the world; but Jesus' death brought life into the world. This prodigal son was thought to be dead but has now come back to life again - pre-figuring Jesus death and coming back to life again. The great celebration for the prodigal son's homecoming is a pre-figurment of Christ's bringing all of us to the great Reconciliation and Eucharist in Confession and the Mass. Christ can even be seen in the slain "fatted calf" to feed all the guests. Jesus gives His own Body and Blood for us. The merriment and wine and singing and dancing are all pre-figuring the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass - the greatest celebration that can take place on this earth because it really is the same Holy Sacrifice of the Body and Blood on the cross at Calvary re-presented and re-offered to the Father for us. The Mass actually make us mystically present on the Hill of Calvary with Jesus...who is not bound by space and time. Jesus presented all of us on the Cross and now we re-present Him to the Father in every Mass. Jesus is not re-crucified. His one sacrifice on the Cross is re-presented now to the Father as atonement for our daily sins. This is the greatest reconciliation and joyful celebration that can ever take place on this earth..and all Heavenly Hosts - angels and saints - attend each Mass here on earth.
In conclusion: Then what about the "Non-Prodigal good son" who stayed at home?
Is not Jesus also telling this story about this "good son" as well: this "Non-Prodigal" good son who stays home with his Father...but is not really happy...does his job only out of duty without any delight or joy? This son finds working for his Dad to be a "real chore." In fact, he uses these words to describe his job functions: "All these years I have slaved for you." Working out of duty is not the same as working out of love. "Ubi est amor, non est labor." "Where there is love, there is no labor."
Now we have all met people like this son. For example, I often go to our Post Office here in New Baltimore. There Donna and Beverly..are always joyful, helpful, accommodating, always going the extra mile for me. They even put stamps on my letters for me..do all the math in my purchases, give me suggestions...all with love and smiles! But there is one other woman/clerk: She only smiled once since I have been here these 14 years. She never does more than she has to ....gives me stamps but never would dream of putting them on my envelopes...never go the extra mile..does not enjoy her job..does not enjoy helping people or serving people. She just is "slaving" over her work. How sad that is. God does not want us to "slave" over anything; He wants us to enjoy work.
Adam and Eve were told to tend the garden way before they fell into sin. Work is not a punishment; it is a creative joy. So, they did tend the garden with joy...they worked creatively and happily....to bring about more Beauty in the garden than even the Father put there. God the Father -- in His Wisdom and Plan --purposely left room in His garden world for improvement! He is still doing that in our world today. That is what we are ALL called to do.
We are all called to make this world more beautiful by our music, by our work, by our writing, by our mothering and fathering, by our praying and minstering to others, by our cooking, by our gardening, by our caring for an loving others, by our art, by our loving dialogue with people of other faiths, and by our political courage to stand up for life and all that is right in the world.
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Epilogue:
PRE-FIGUREMENTS in the Old and New Testaments seens to be the natural and supernatural way that God the Father works and prepares the world for Jesus' coming starting form Abraham onward...So, therefore, this Prodigal Son story is also Jesus' way of pre-figuring the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Just as when Jesus fed the 4,000 and 5,000 people with the multiplication of fish and bread -- just as He did in changing water into to wine to show He could also change wine into His own precious blood --so, too, here in this Prodigal Son story, Jesus is preparing all those down the centuries to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation joyfully and lovingly and with total abandonment into the arms of His Father and into His merciful Sacred Heart. Jesus's defense of His Prodigal Daughter - the woman caught in adultery - and loving embrace of her dignity as a woman shows all of us how He would be as our "Priest" in confession: "I do not condemn you either...from now on avoid this sin." Jesus was telling her to not leave home again..to return home totally frogiven and exonerated. Jesus did not even let her confess to Him...He -- like His Father -- forgave before a full confession could be made. Jesus IS the "Prodigal Father" for all of us in Confession. All priests must have this very same mind and heart of Christ in administering the Sacrament of Confession: non-condemning or jugmental, merciful, loving and encouraging and even joyfully celebrative! Jesus did call sin a sin; He did not minimize sin; but He did show great crative love in response to sin. He -- after Peter had denied Him three times -- gave Peter a very creative penance: Peter was asked to make three public confessions of his Love for Jesus to re-establish his relationship to Jesus in such a way that now the new relationship was closer than even before Peter fell into his sins of denial.
Thus once we confess to God, then God has to use those very sins creativley to make us holier! "Where sin abounds, grace abounds more." Now that is incredible creativity on God's part. Peter and Jesus were never as close as they were after this encounter with the Resurrected Jesus. Notice that Jesus did not say to Peter: "I told you so, Peter, that you would deny me three times and you did!" No! Jesus already had heard the confession of Peter and had seen his tears. Jesus was now just interested in repairing the damage. And Jesus being such a "texton" (construction worker), made something more lovely and beautiful and seaworthy out of Peter's shipwreck.. and made Peter's "ship" more beautiful that it was before it crashed on the rocks.
Jesus is a very creative lover!
In final conclusion, Jesus' Portrait of His Father in the Prodigal Son Story a picture of the Father's Love as Infinite, Compassionate and as "never running out". The Father says to His elder son and to us: "All that I have is yours" and "you are with Me always.." The Father never runs out of mercy, never runs out of love, never runs out of grace for us..because ALL is a grace from Him..."Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from the Father of Lights.."
Besides loving us and wanting us -- His children -- to share in His Divine life by/in His Spirit through Christ in us...for our perfect happiness for all eternity, still why does He do ALL this so generously for us?
The answer is simple: He does this to bring to fulfillment His very image and likeness is us..because "Gloria Dei homo vivens!" -- "The Glory of God is a man fully alive!"
Father, Please do this all for us each day...and each hour...and each moment...till we are safe and secure in Your arms forever. Father, "with You we shall always be!"
Gratitude and Love to love to You, Father, now and forever and ever..Amen..in Jesus' Name through Mary, Queen of All Creation.
Peace and Love, Pio
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