So the father divided his property between them. Some days later, the younger son gathered
all his belongings and started off for a distant land, where he squandered his wealth in loose
living. Having spent everything, he was hard pressed when a severe famine broke out in
that land. So famished was he, that he longed to fill his stomach even with the food
given to the pigs, but no one offered him anything. Finally coming to his senses, he said,
(…) I will get up and go back to my father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned against God,
and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son. Treat me then as one of your hired
servants.’ With that thought in mind, he set off for his father’s house. He was still a long way
off, when his father caught sight of him. His father was so deeply moved with compassion
that he ran out to meet him, threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. The son said,
‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your
son.’ But the father turned to his servants: ‘Quick!’ he said. ‘Bring out the finest robe and put
it on him! Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet! Take the fattened calf and kill it! We
shall celebrate and have a feast, for this son of mine was dead, and has come back to life;
he was lost, and is found!’ And the celebration began. Meanwhile, the elder son had been
working in the fields. (…) He called one of the servants and asked what it was all about.
The servant answered, ‘Your brother has come home safe and sound, and your father is so
happy about it that he has ordered this celebration, and killed the fattened calf.’ The elder
son became angry, and refused to go in. His father came out and pleaded with him.
The son, very indignant, said, 'Look, I have slaved for you all these years. Never have
I disobeyed your orders. Yet you have never given me even a young goat to celebrate with
my friends. But when this son of yours returns, after squandering your property with loose
women, you killed the fattened calf for him!' The father said, ‘My son, you are always with
me, and everything I have is yours. But this brother of yours was dead, and has come back
to life; he was lost, and is found. And for that we had to rejoice and be glad.’”
Reflect
“God offers a familial relationship.” Whenever we fail to recognize our own giftedness, envying
others due to the gifts endowed upon them, we fail to understand the kind of relationship God
is offering us. God offers us a familial relationship. We are not strangers to him while we are
often strangers to ourselves. Today’s Gospel tells of the beautiful story which teaches a lesson
about familial relationship: The Parable of the Prodigal Son. We may focus our reflection on the
reaction of the eldest son, who upon the return of his prodigal brother, became angry.
His complaint addressed to his father reveals his state of mind. The kind of relationship he
thought he had with his father was far from familial. It was merely transactional. He felt that
he deserved to appropriate things for himself out of his own merits and not because he was
also a son of his father. Lent is a season which prods us to enter into a familial relationship
with God.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2024