The Return of the Prodigal Son, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo 1667-1670, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, USA.

[His father] said to [his older son], ‘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.’    Luke 15: 31-32.

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Today has possibly the most famous of all of Jesus’ parables, the Prodigal Son, prodigal meaning, in this case, he had spent everything on things which vanish (“swallowed up your property with prostitutes” as his older brother put it) and he had nothing to show for it. I can quite imagine that the majority of us sympathize almightily with the older son… But Jesus, as ever, upends us yet again, making us think, reflect and quite possibly change our minds. But first, some interesting points: (1) – The younger son went really to “a distant country” because, as he ended up taking care of pigs, a food forbidden by Leviticus 11:7: “Do not eat pigs; they must be considered unclean”, strongly suggests a pagan land, a long way from home; it also meant he had reached complete degradation. (2) – He “came to his senses”. Such moments should be carefully considered, as sometimes the Finger of God is there. Alcoholics sometimes experience that, waking one day amid mess and chaos and wonder what am I doing? In the 1951 movie “Christmas Carol”, the reformed Scrooge welcomes his astonished clerk Bob Cratchet with an increase in salary and a promise to help his family with the explanation, “I haven’t lost my senses Bob, I’ve come to them”. As did the prodigal son. (3) – The prodigal then sets out returning home, with his apology memorized, but his father sees him before he sees his father! His father had been looking out for him every day with hope. (4) – He is not given enough time to get out his full apology before his father instantly orders a huge celebration of thanks for his return. (5) – But the older brother refuses to enter the house and join the celebration, as he is so angry, but his father goes out to him! (6) – His older brother is so angry that he says to his father, “but when your son returns…you slaughter the fatted calf”. He is incapable of calling him his brother! His father then speaks the rationale of forgiveness and love. We are not given the response, if any, of the older son.

Forgiveness is central to the Christian spirit. Jesus forgave his torturers! From the cross itself! Do we have it in us to forgive each and every time it is called for? In October 2006, in the Pennsylvania hamlet of West Nickel Mines, in the one-room Amish schoolhouse of elementary children, Charles Roberts, the local milkman, walked into the schoolhouse and shot dead six young girls and wounded four others. He then shot himself. Read the whole sad history here. It was one of the worst crimes ever. The Amish reaction to the crime was what caught the attention of the world: forgiveness. Their leaders even went to the perpetrator’s house to comfort his widow. There was no evidence of anger, retribution or fury, just forgiveness amid broken hearts. It was the perfect Christian example of what Jesus was telling us in his parable. Forgiveness is difficult, sometimes verging on the impossible, but it is what each Christian must do, and from the heart.

And that new thought might well be reflected in today’s second reading: “Whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come”. If the Lord  is telling us to forgive in each and every occasion which warrants it, it might well be a brand-new experience for many of us. It is so easy to hold a grudge because of some incident, perhaps years ago, where we were hurt in some way. So many Hollywood movies rest on such a premise that it becomes second nature. But today’s teaching flies in its face. No, we are not to hold grudges, because that means we have not forgiven. Does that mean we bury the hatchet? Yes; but we do not have to forget where. We are not required to become a soft target for the evil of others, just to be more careful and alert, perhaps even become a teacher of good behavior which Christians are called to do. As today’s second reading says, “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation”. And it even says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him”. This is such a remarkable statement that volumes have been written about it. What on earth does it mean? Jesus was sinless! But, as the scholars say, because “he became flesh”, he took on our sinful nature in order to allow us to become sinless, should we so choose. Another interpretation is that Jesus’ sacrifice was the same as the sacrifice of a sinless and innocent lamb in reparation for sins we have committed; Jesus was the “sinless offering” to enable us to be sinless in the eyes of God. It follows that the suffering he endured includes the sins we have committed in our lifetime. Take a look at this. 

And so we can rejoice in the sacrifice of the Lord for our sake, that we might become sinless in the sight of God, hence the name for this midpoint in Lent, Laetare, or “Rejoice” in Latin from the opening prayer today, “Rejoice Jerusalem!”  We are invited by God to become sinless, joyful, true followers of the Lord – to become, in fact, the forgiver as represented by the father in today’s parable. Forgiveness, then, is so close to the heart of God as to be inseparable from it. 

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