The 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 11, 2022

Luke 15, 1–32

Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So to them he addressed this parable. “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance. Or what woman having ten coins and losing one would not light a lamp and sweep the house, searching carefully until she finds it? And when she does find it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’ In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Then he said, “A man had two sons, 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. 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. When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need. So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine. And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any. 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. I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”’ 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. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.’ 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. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.’ Then the celebration began. 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. He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean. 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.’ He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him. 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. But when your son returns, who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’ He said to him, ‘My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. 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.’ ” 

The Parable of the Prodigal Son, as it is often called, perhaps would be better called “The Prodigal Father”, for the father in the story certainly seems to spend his love heedlessly, even wastefully.  It could also be called, “The Older Son’s Dilemma”, and this would be the best title because this is what the parable is really about.  The story of the younger son’s foolishness and his return home is the premise for the actual parable, the “twist”.  The older son is confronted with the choice of reconciling with his brother or not.  The consequences of his decision will have far-reaching effects for, as his father reminds him, the younger son has lost his inheritance forever.  After the father dies, what remains of his property will all go to the older son, and he can choose to cast his younger brother off of it.  The father begs his older son to reconcile with him.  The father knows all too well that he could die in his sleep that night, and the chances of a reconciliation after he is dead will be much slighter than now, when he is still alive to urge it.

We might wonder about the strong feelings the older son has against his brother, but he has good reasons for them.  The younger brother made an outrageous request of his father and, equally outrageously, his father granted it.  The son then went and sold the land.  This was an act of great contempt, for it was the land of his ancestors and it would be the land of his family’s descendants.  With this act the younger son rejected his family.  The land was gone from the family forever.  Due to the critical decrease in the amount of land the family held, life for the father and the older son would have gotten much harder.  Their harvest would have been halved.  Meanwhile, the younger brother had gone abroad into gentile lands and spent the money, which represented his ancestors and their hard lives, on prostitutes and drink.  He brought shame to the family’s name in addition to financial difficulties.  Finally, this son did not have the decency to stay away from his family when he did come to his senses.

The father is aware of his older son’s feelings and the justice of them.  He begs the older son to forgive his brother not because of any true repentance on the part of that brother, but for his — the father’s — sake.  The father, who loves to a fault, is simply happy his son is home again.  His love for his son does not depend on whatever good qualities the son may have.  He loves him because he cannot help himself but to do so.  This is God’s love.  God does not love us any less for our sins.  He gushes with love for us irrespective of the choices we have made in our lives.  He does so because he is love (cf. 1 John 4, 8).  He is pure love, an unending blazing of love, infinite love.  His love is beyond our comprehension.  Here on earth we mostly experience measured love, imperfect love, and we think that is what love is.  To us, the love of God seems insane because it is in itself without limit.  Most of us, if we were to fully experience it now, would not be able to bear it.  To do so, we must be perfect like he is (cf. Matthew 5, 48).  The father in the parable gives his older son the opportunity to love as he does, by loving even when there exists no logical reason to love.  

The Lord leaves the question open as to what the older son does, as though to challenge us to answer it for ourselves.  But if we choose to love like the Father, we shall know what it is to be loved by the Father.