Lk 15:1-3, 11-32
[or Jn 9:1-41]
1The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to [Jesus], 2but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3So to them [Jesus] addressed this parable.
11“A man had two sons, 12and the younger son said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’ So the father divided the property between them. 13After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation. 14When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need. ... 17Coming to his senses he thought, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger. 18I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.” ’
20So he got up and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. 21His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.’ 22But his father ordered his servants, ‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, 24because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.’ Then the celebration began. 25Now the older son… became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him. 29He said to his father in reply, ‘Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. 30But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’ 31He said to him, ‘My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. 32But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ ”
Sinners at the Father’s Banquet
The younger son’s words, “I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you,’ ” are often used to speak of conversion as the return to the Father. Lucien Deiss’s refrain for a hymn used in Lent and at penitential services echoes it: “Yes, I shall arise and return to my Father.”
The words may indeed suggest the turning point of conversion. But does the young man speak them out of true sorrow? The sacrament of Reconciliation requires contrition and firm resolution of amendment. Forgiveness comes with a penance to be fulfilled.
The son’s decision to return home is the result of at least three things: embarrassment, hunger, and calculation. His intentions are certainly far from noble, selfless, or contrite. It is a matter of self-preservation rather than of contrition.
The son’s motives, however, do not matter to the father. Jesus’ story, though often called the parable of the prodigal (or lost) son, is more about the father than about either of the sons. The father is the main character in the story. And, as Fr. Austin Fleming puts it, “The father doesn’t care WHY the son came home: the father only cares THAT his son came home. The father was not looking for his son’s confession or contrition. The father was only looking for—his son!”
Indeed, the story is about the father who not only has two sons but loves two sons. To the feast are invited both the wasteful, ungrateful, devious son and his jealous, angry, and stubborn elder brother. Because of our competitive spirit, we think that there must be losers if there are winners: it’s either Jews or Gentiles, poor or rich, saint or sinner, publican or Pharisee, older son or younger son.
God’s love, instead, is not either… or. God’s love is both… and. The embrace of the younger son does not mean the rejection of the older; the love of tax collectors and sinners does not negate the love of Pharisees and scribes.
To the table of the Eucharist, we are all invited. In many and differing ways, we are all wasteful sons and daughters, all older brothers and sisters, all sinners looking for a place at our Father’s table… the Father who runs to us with open arms… the Father who welcomes us all, expecting not our confession or contrition but only us, his children.