Luke 15: 11-32
11 Jesus added: “A certain man had two sons; 12 and the youngest of them said to the father: ‘Father, give me my share of the property.’ And he distributed his goods to them.
13 Not many days later, the youngest son, putting it all together, left for a distant country, and there he wasted his property living in a ragged way.
14 When he had spent everything, a great famine came in that country, and he began to be in need.
15 So he went and approached one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he wanted to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs ate, but no one gave him anything.
17 Then, coming to his senses, he said: ‘How many of my father’s workers have bread to spare, but here I am starving!
18 I will get up and go to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.
19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your workers.”
20 “Getting up, he went to his father. While he was still far away, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran, fell on his neck and kissed him.
21 And the son said to him: ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Soon; bring the best clothes and dress him; put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.
23 Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and rejoice; 24 because this son of mine was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to rejoice.
25 “His oldest son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dances.
26 Calling one of the servants, he asked him what it was all about. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received it safe and sound.’
28 Then he got angry and didn’t want to go in. His father came out and begged him to come in.
29 But he said to the father: ‘Look, for so many years I have served you and I have never disobeyed any order of yours, and yet you have never given me a kid to rejoice with my friends; 30 But when this son of yours came, who has consumed your goods with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him. ‘31 And his father said to him: ‘My son, you have always been with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But it was necessary to celebrate and rejoice, because this, your brother, was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.”
Reflection of the Parable: The Prodigal Son From The Bible
The parable of the prodigal son is a well-known and popular parable. I would like to reflect on it, but perhaps on a few specific points.
If we think about the son and what he asks of the father (his inheritance) we can think that in reality the son is telling the father….
Father, you are dead to me, I don’t want to live with you, I don’t want to know more about you, money matters more to me, give me my share and I’m leaving….
Maybe it’s strong to think of it that way, but that’s what he was saying in other words.
By asking for his share of the inheritance, which only occurs when a person dies, the son was telling the father that it no longer mattered to him.
Now think how many times have you not told God…
Father, you are dead to me, give me what belongs to me and I don’t need you? How many times have you told the Father, I can alone, I want to do things my way?
Later we see in the parable that the son spent all the money, starved to the point of looking for work taking care of pigs (the prodigal son was a Jew and for the Jews the pig is the most vile or low thing in the world, a job of caring for pigs is the lowest a Jew can go) and he was so hungry that he wanted to eat the garbage that was given to the pigs.
But he reacted, realized that he had a rich father, and decides to apologize. While he is far away the father sees him and THE FATHER RUNS TO HIM and forgives him.
It is important to think that the father saw him from afar, which tells me that the father was always looking, always waiting, always anxious for his son, so much so that he ran towards the son (kings in those times did not run towards people, they were very important, people were running towards them.
Now think about how many times God has forgiven you?
He is waiting, eager to see you to run to you and forgive you, put the ring on you so that you are part of the family. Do you want to be forgiven?
The other older sibling or son is upset that they celebrate their brother’s return, but they have never celebrated that he has been present without fail.
That he has always been the “exemplary” son.
Now think about how many times you have judged others because they are sinners?
How many times do you think that because you are in church, because you are in prayer groups, in Bible study groups, because you follow the commandments, because you pray, because you go to mass that you deserve something from God, or do you think that the “others” are sinners because they do not seek God like you?
Ask God to enlighten you not to have a mentality like the eldest son.
The beauty of our God is that he is merciful. He is waiting to see you close (he does not force you) to run to you, forgive you, love you and make you part of the family (put the ring on you). To see more post on Spiritual Health click here.
Accept it and look for it…. Let yourself forgive…. Let yourself be loved
