I will rise and go to my father"

Sunday Mass Readings

Today’s three readings emphasize two things: the scandal of human sinfulness and the scandal of God’s love. In the first reading from the book of Exodus, God, by his mighty works had just freed Israel from slavery. The memory should have been be still fresh in their minds. And yet the people abandon their God and begin to worship the golden calf. God wants to destroy these people but then he has compassion. The emphasis here is not on Moses’ pleading but God’s steadfastness, his faithfulness, his prodigal and scandalizing love. Paul, in his letter to Timothy, calls himself a blasphemer, a persecutor and arrogant but considers himself “treated with mercy…” by God. And he concludes, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” All the three parables in the Gospel reading are about a God who goes out in search of sinners. Most of the time we are told that we are the prodigal sons/daughters and God is the forgiving Father. And this picture is true. At heart, we are all sinners in need of repentance. The truth of the matter, though, is that each of us has a dual role – that of the prodigal son and that of the prodigal father. There are times when we as sinners stand in need of forgiveness like the prodigal son. There are other times when people seek forgiveness from us and we need to forgive like the prodigal father. The key is this - there should not be a dichotomy between the two roles. In the same manner that we expect to be forgiven, we must forgive. Any contradiction here is hypocrisy. Thus, today I suggest that we learn not only to be like the prodigal son but also the prodigal father.

The most visible expression of the parable of the prodial son is the sacrament of reconciliation. It is called a sacrament for a reason. The confessional is the place where the prodigal son/daughter and the prodigal father meet.