Reflection/Homily: Fourth (4th) Sunday of Lent Year C (March 10 2013)
Theme: The Generous, Forgiving and Loving Father

The gospel reading (Luke 15:1-3.11-32) presents us with a familiar story – the story of the prodigal son. This story describes the lives of a rich father and his two sons. The younger son came to the father and requested for his share of the family property and went away to squander his in an unknown distant land. When he realized his miserable condition after spending all he had, he made haste to return home, at least to work as a servant in his father’s house. Contrary to popular expectation, his father joyfully welcomed him as his son and organized a great party in his honour. The elder brother on his return showed his jealousy and dissatisfaction over the warm reception given to his brother and refused to be part of the joy.

Today’s parable told by Jesus is an attempt to explain to the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law the inexhaustible generous, forgiving and loving nature of God. This is because they were grumbling over Jesus’ association with the publicans and sinners who were coming to listen to Jesus. The chief protagonist in this parable is not even the prodigal son but the father. However, today, we shall reflect on the personalities of the three characters and draw some lessons from their lives.

The prodigal son is a symbol of the lost humanity. He was eager to ask for some goods he would later abuse. Nobody knows whether he had the initial intention to squander those goods. He is represented in those who ask God for a lot of favours, blessings and gifts but end up using them wrongly. A lot of people are gifted with rare intelligence but instead of using it for good, they use it to perpetrate criminal activities. A sincere look into our lives will reveal this character of the prodigal son in us. Some of us use our wealth and positions to victimize the poor and the weak, others are arrogant on account of their achievements which are only gifts from God. Some use their bodies for immorality and hence destroy the temple of God in them.

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