BE YOU RECONCILED TO ONE ANOTHER
On this Laetare (rejoice) Sunday, reconciliation is the watchword. All through Lent we have been focusing on those Ash Wednesday words, "repent and believe in the Gospel." Today, with Lent more than half over, we rejoice over the good news that God wants to reconcile with us through his son, Jesus Christ. Today's Gospel is the family story of a man and his two sons who present us with real life situation that calls for reconciliation.
The younger son broke the custom of the land about inheritance by demanding his share while his father was still alive. When his request was granted and his share given to him, he abandoned his duties and responsibilities in the family estate and went abroad to live a life of fun, which left him in the end with nothing. He was eventually forced by poverty to take up the job of feeding pigs, which Jews regarded as unclean animals. This is one of the damaging effects of sin: it leads people to a situation where they lose all sense of shame and decency.
When he finally came home seeking forgiveness from his father, motivated by love and compassion, the father forgave him and took him in. When the father accepted the lost son back, the elder son of this family, who labored faithfully at home with his father, became indignant. He refused to accept his father's explanations and pleadings. In his anger, he distanced himself from his own family, unable to celebrate his brother's return with the rest of the family. This parable tells us two ways we can become alienated from God: either by running away from Him like the younger son or by merely following His rules like the elder son.
In this parable, God wants us to know that we all are sinners. Whether your sins are conspicuously stinking like those of the younger son or dutifully covered like those of the elder son, the message for us today is that every one of us has a weakness that we need to repent from and return to the Father's house. The younger son needs to turn back from his loose and reckless lifestyle and return to his father's house to be a responsible and obedient son. The older son needs to turn back from anger, insensitivity, and lack of forgiveness and learn to share the house with his repentant younger brother.
The good news here is that God loves the lost; whether we are lost in rebellion (like the younger son) or in compliance (like the elder son), he reaches out to us as the father in the parable did to the two sons. No matter how much we sin against God, he is never outdone in his forgiveness. The only thing he wants from each one of us is repentance. The Lord forgives those who trust in his forgiveness, those who overcome their independence and willful denial and surrender to his love. This is something the elder son could not do. He retained his independence, even lecturing his generous father on being too easy with his younger son.
Today, if you should honestly admit your sins, honestly confess them, God will not only forgive you but restore you to your former favors with him as was done to the prodigal son (1 Jn 1:8-10). Our heavenly father is always on the lookout for those who have a change of heart and want to return. He rejoices in finding the lost and in welcoming them home.
So, the challenge before us today is to embody love and compassion, striving to be like the father in the parable of the prodigal son - welcoming and forgiving - rather than like the rigid and unforgiving elder son. In a world full of lost and wandering souls, let us make a deliberate commitment to reconcile with one another unconditionally and without judgment, reflecting the boundless mercy God extends to us."
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