GOSPEL READING REFLECTION
For March 27, 2022
4th Sunday of Lent
Year C
Lk 15:1-3, 11-32
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THE PRODIGAL 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.’”
St. Luke gives us a context for understanding why Jesus composed this parable.
• It arose out of a complaint from the Pharisees and scribes, seemingly faithful Jews.
• Jesus was doing something that attracted tax collectors and sinners, seemingly unfaithful Jews.
If that were not bad enough,
Jesus also welcomed them and ate with them.
• The gist of their complaint seems be that a true man of God
should come for the good and faithful Jews.
He should welcome them and eat with them.
Moreover, his message should repel bad Jews
by pointing out to them that their ways are evil
(which no one likes to hear).
The good Jews think Jesus should shun those bad Jews
until they repent and become like the good Jews.
In the parable of the Prodigal Son, Our Lord describes the process
of sin, conversion, and repentance, at “the center of which is the merciful father”:
“the fascination of illusory freedom,
the abandonment of the father’s house;
the extreme misery in which the son finds himself after squandering his fortune;
his deep humiliation at finding himself obliged to feed swine,
and still worse, at wanting to feed on the husks the pigs ate;
his reflection on all he has lost;
his repentance and decision to declare himself guilty before his father;
the journey back;
the father’s generous welcome;
the father’s joy—all these are characteristic of the process of conversion.
The beautiful robe, the ring, and the festive banquet
are symbols of that new life—pure, worthy, and joyful—
of anyone who returns to God
and to the bosom of his family, which is the Church.”
The Catechism then makes this astute observation: “Only the heart of Christ who knows the depths of his Father’s love could reveal to us the abyss of his mercy in so simple and beautiful a way.” (CCC 1439)
