Reflections on the Gospel

Scripture Insights

Jesus’ parable is often called “The Prodigal Son,” but this misses its deeper meaning. If we portray it as the parable of the father with two sons, we see how it challenges us to love without limits. The father, at his younger son’s request, sets him free so that he can make his own choices and bear their consequences. The son’s behest cannot be overstated. He has asked his father if they could pretend he is dead so that the son could take his share of the wealth. We see that the son quickly dissipates his father’s wealth and finds himself in the shocking reality of the unforgiving world. Coming to his senses, he intends to make amends and hope for mercy.

The father awaits his child’s return and welcomes him back into the household with great joy and celebration. If we end here, however, we miss the real point. This father risks losing his older son, the one who has remained faithful and true. One was lost and has been found, but as we close, the father is outside, away from rejoicing, trying to save his second son, to whom he says, “Everything I have is yours” (Lk 15:31). Jesus points to a Father who makes demands f all who follow, but these must be understood in the light of a Father who is found in unexpected places, searching for all his lost children.

What is lost must be found. This message stands, and this is what Paul confirms in his Second Letter to the Corinthians. Jesus reveals a different God from the one expected and invented by the religious culture of his day. This expected image holds power today because we continue to look for God in wrong places. The God revealed by Jesus is as much a surprise to us as to his listeners. We enthrone God on altars when he is likely to be found out in the dark, trying to save his lost children.

God always provides sometimes just enough for us to get by, and other times in abundance. As we were called to communal grieving at the beginning of Lent, so we are called to be a community of reconciliation.