Posted on 03/14/2009 3:49:43 PM PDT by NYer
Luke
Chapter 15
- 11
- Then he said, "A man had two sons,
- 12
- and 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.
- 13
- After 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.
- 14
- When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need.
- 15
- So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine.
- 16
- And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any.
- 17
- Coming 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.
- 18
- I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
- 19
- I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers."'
- 20
- So 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.
- 21
- His son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.'
- 22
- But 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.
- 23
- Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast,
- 24
- because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.' Then the celebration began.
- 25
- Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing.
- 26
- He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean.
- 27
- The servant said to him, 'Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'
- 28
- He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him.
- 29
- He 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.
- 30
- But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.'
- 31
- He said to him, 'My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours.
- 32
- But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.'"
SYNAXARION
During Lent, we constantly reflect upon the theme of our sinfulness and the mercy of God. During the Divine Mysteries, we pray: "Many are my sins, but greater is your mercy. When placed on a scale your mercy prevails over the weight of the moutains known only to you. Consider the sin and consider the atonement. The atonement is greater and exceeds the sins." Our sins have been atoned for because of the infinite compassion and mercy of God.
The Gospel of Luke provids us with three parables which speak about the mercy of God: the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son. The sheep became lost because of its own ignorance. Many times we think of ourselves as intelligent, but out of foolishness we wander away from the sheepfold, the Church. Of course, the coin was lost through no fault of its own. Many people become lost through no fault of their own, but are misled and taught to do wrong. This is especially true of the young. The son, however, deliberately left the house of his father. This parable is most rich in explaining the concern of God for our well being and Jesus himself provides all the details of the story.
Jesus tells of how the son boldly goes to the father and asks for "his portion". Actually, all of the property belongs to the father and the son has no rights to any of it. How ofte do we treat all of the gifts of God as if they were our rightful portion rather than gifts of God. Seeking freedom and pleasure, with money in hand, the son does not concern himself about anybody or anything, he goes far from home so that no one knows what he is doing. He ran off to live among the non-believers where more pleasures could be offered to him, but he soon went through all of his money. A famine struck the land and he was forced to seek work in tending for pigs. The Jews considered pigs as unclean and the one who cared for pigs as cursed. In the face of physical and moral degradation, he was forced to come to his senses. "How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough to spare, but I perish with huger. I will arise and go to my father ...."
The father must have been awaiting for the son daily, because he saw him at a distance and ran out to meet him. He embraced and kissed him. He gave him a robe (a sign of honor), a ring (a sign of authority) and shoes (unlike slaves who did not have shoes). The son was treated as if he had never been away.
The son showed courage and humility in his return. It took courage to examine his life and ascertain his pitiful condition. It took humility to admit his mistakes to his father.
The older son represents those who prefer to see a sinner destroyed rather than saved. He is jealous and self -righteous, considering only the sins of his brother and not of his repentance. He even tries to incide the father against his brother. However, the father encouraged him to be happy because his brother who had been lost had been found. How joyful is heaven on the occasion of the return of a sinner to the Father.
On some occasions we are able to identify with the prodigal son who has gone astray. Let us imitate his courage and humility and seek the forgiveness of the Father. At other time, we are able to see ourselves as the older son, righteous and unwilling to forgive the mistakes of another. At times like this, let us listen to the wisdom of the Father and be joyful at the conversion of the sinner.
O God
accept our icense and our prayers for the pardon of our sins
and those of all your people.
Grant those who are far from your paternal home to return as penitents asking pardon.
Strengthen the resolution of your poor servants,
that we may remain with you,
now and forever.
Amen
ML/NJ
In the Latin Church. It is the 4th Sunday of Lent in the Eastern Catholic Churches. It begins with 'Cana Sunday" and ends on the Friday before Palm Sunday. The differences are in the calculation of the 40 days. Because Sunday is the day of the Resurrection, the Western Church skips over Sunday when calculating the length of Lent. The Eastern Church does not skip over Sundays. Technically, it begins on Clean (Ash) Monday, the 7th Monday before Easter and ends as noted above. It is ushered in by Cana Sunday which is considered the first Sunday of Lent.
Great to see you in the forum! Have missed your posts :-)
One of my favorite parables.
{because I know all of the characters so well...}
During this time of the year, our pastor hosts a monthly "gospel soiree" - a casual Bible Study gathering in one parishioner's home. He supplies the Bibles and amongst ourselves, we pick out something to read and discuss. It's quite relaxed and meant to 'open up' the Scripture for better understanding.
The most recent one was held on Thursday evening. Father chose the Parable of the 2 sons (not the prodigal son) from, I believe, the Book of Matthew. It was quite short and we expected it would be over very quickly. The parable is addressed to the Pharisees and Scribes. It speaks of a man who has 2 sons. He sends them out to work in the vinyard. The first son refuses to go but later changes his mind. The second son agrees to go but doesn't. Jesus poses the question to the Pharisees and Scribes: "Which one did the will of the Father?" "The first", they all agree. In response, Jesus affirms that prostitutes and sinners will enter heaven before them.
Father then asked us what we understood. We all began with the obvious response - the first one. He then 'unpacked' the parable beginning wih the vinyard. To do so, we were transported through time, back 2000 years ago, so we could be part of the audience to whom the parable was directed. In those days, everyone had a vinyard (still true for many today in the middle east). The vinyard provided the family with wine, vinegar, grape juice, grapes and raisins. To maintain the vinyard took a lot of work. One had to till the soil with crude instruments, remove rocks and boulders, trim the arbors, etc. The sons were the heirs of the property, hence they needed to be working members of the vinyard.
As you can see, Father unpacked the story, shedding light on various aspects of this small passage that were not obvious at all to a contemporary, mechanized, non-agricultural society. By the time we were done discussing this parable, 3 glorious hours had passed!
These "gospel soirees" are common practice in Lebanon. It is one of the teaching methods used by the Maronite Church to draw families into Bible Study and enlighten their minds and open their hearts to the Word of God. Wish you all could have been there!
Lol! Don't we all!
In the Maronite Catholic Church, Lent is the season when we hear the miracle stories of Jesus. It kicked off with 'Cana Sunday' when Jesus began his miistry by changing water into wine. This was followed by Sunday of the Leper, Sunday of the Hemorrhaging Woman and now the Prodigal Son. The season continues next week with Sunday of the Paralytic, then Sunday of Bartimaeus the Blind, followed by Lazarus Saturday. It culminates with Hosanna Sunday when Jesus made his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. No matter how many times I hear these gospels, I am always moved by the gracious mercy of our Lord to those who trusted in him to heal them.
On a recent program, Mother Angelica made a comment that gave great pause for reflection. She noted that at his crucifixion, not one of those whom he had healed, showed up to be there for him. Instead, we have new faces - Simeon who helped him carry the cross and Veronica who wiped his face with her veil.
Lent is indeed a beautiful season for great reflection and prayer.
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