FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT
30 MARCH 2025
In
the first reading, Joshua reminds his people that God has formed them into a
new creation by leading them through the desert to the Promised Land. Saint Paul builds on the words of Joshua in
his letter to the Corinthians and applies them to Christ. Jesus Christ has formed us into a new
creation by reconciling us to the Father through his death on the cross. As members of this new creation, we are ambassadors
for Christ, extending the reconciliation we have received with others.
This most
famous parable of Jesus helps us to understand God’s reconciling love. We call it the “Parable of the Prodigal
Son.” The word “prodigal” means
“recklessly extravagant.” The younger
son is definitely “prodigal.” He makes a
recklessly extravagant demand on his father.
He demands half of his inheritance.
In the ancient world, the inheritance would be given only after
death. He recklessly considers his
father dead. The older son is also
reckless, because his job would have been to negotiate the terms of the
inheritance with his brother and to talk sense into him. But he stands by and does nothing. He seems to be waiting for his father to die to
get the rest of the inheritance, with his younger brother out of the way. However, the most recklessly extravagant
person is the father. He recklessly
gives his younger son what he demands.
He risks looking like an old fool to his neighbors.
The younger
son leaves and squanders his wealth on a life of dissipation, recklessly and extravagantly
wasting his wealth on himself. But when
the famine strikes and he is stuck caring for pigs (a horrible job for a Jewish
boy), he comes to his senses and regrets his actions. He intends to return to his father as a
slave, supporting himself apart from his father’s house. But the father is filled with compassion. He rushes out to welcome him back as his
son. Again, he looks like an old fool to
the neighbors. Not only does he embrace
him, but he gives his son the symbols of his reckless extravagance – the finest
robe, the ring, sandals on his feet, and an extravagant feast. At this point, the son recognizes the
incredible gift of his father’s mercy and accepts the gift of his original
sonship.
As members
of the new creation, the Father offers us the recklessly extravagant gift of
reconciliation. Through the Lenten
disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, the Lord invites us to examine
our consciences to see how we may have imitated the example of the younger
son. Have we been estranged and
rebellious while being absent from the presence of the Lord? If so, we can honestly confess our sin. When we repent and make up our minds to
change our course, we open ourselves to receive the Lord’s grace of extravagant
mercy. We can share the joy of that gift
and be restored to the status of sons or daughters given to us when we were
baptized. Then, we can become
ambassadors of Christ, extending that same gift to others.
Or, are we more like the older son,
estranged and rebellious in our hearts while remaining in the presence of the
Lord? The father rushes out to meet his
older son to answer his angry questions about his brother. The father does so publicly, again looking
like a fool to his neighbors. He has
been estranged and rebellious in his heart while remaining in his father’s presence. In his arrogance, he refuses his father’s
gift of extravagant mercy.
This parable answers the objection of
the Pharisees and scribes: “this man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” They clearly resemble the older brother. The Lord has thrown a feast for us in this
Eucharist. He eats with us sinners,
whether we are the older or the younger son and invites us to repentance. Then he sends us out of this Mass to be
ambassadors of his reckless mercy to others.
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