The Prodigal One is God

Fr. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year C

St. Gerard Majella Church

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Beloved in Christ, what is really the difference between a new, crisp $20 bill and an old, soiled and rumpled $20 bill? When I was in Memphis, TN, I showed my congregation a new $20 bill and asked who wants it. As expected, all hands went up. Then I asked them “if this same crisp $20 bill is rumpled, how many of you would still want it?”  Again, all hands went up. Lastly I asked, “Suppose the same crisp new $20 is thrown to the floor of the church, marched repeatedly, how many would still want it?”  All hands went up. Then I explained that in our eyes, the difference between a new $20 bill and a rumpled one is the difference between a good person and a bad person in the sight of God. Both are equally acceptable. Both are wanted and needed by God. 

Dearest beloved, today’s gospel taken from Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32 is the story of a family-father and his two sons. The younger son wanted autonomy; he wanted his share of his father’s wealth. He got what he wanted and set off to a distant country. Out there without the protection and the guidance of his father, he squandered his inheritance on a life of debauchery. He wasted his share of inheritance and found himself in dire need. He became homeless was equally starving. Because necessity is the mother of invention, he remembered he could work and earn a living. Though it was not explicitly written in this story, but it is clear that this younger son did not have any skill. It seems he was not educated; he lacked the technical skill or managerial skill to get a decent employment. Hence “he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine.”

In his destitution and suffering, he came to his senses and decided to return home to his father. But he was not expecting his father to treat him again as his son. So he made up his mind that he would ask to become one of his servants. Living as a servant in his father’s house was far better than his present condition. He was not expecting his father to forgive him and treat him as a son. He has a distorted understanding of his father’s forgiveness and mercy. We too can have a distorted notion of God’s forgiveness. The book of Genesis 1:29 says that “God created us in his image and likeness”, but ever since then, we have been making God in our own image and likeness.

While he was still a long way from home, his father caught a sight of him, ran towards him and gave him a welcome hug. The father did not yell at his son and tell him how miserable and despicable he is. That’s what God does! He is always longing and waiting for us to return home. Home is where we belong! The father must have shed tears for two reasons: one, tears of joy that his lost son is back; two, tears of sorrow and pity at what his son has become. You don’t expect a man who fed pigs and lived with pigs to look healthy and decent. He must have gone out of humanity! The father called for a party. He ordered the finest garment to be put on his son; ordered a ring to be put on his finger. Those are signs of restoration. When the younger son left his family, he lost his princeship and sonship. Putting a ring on his finger and a sandal on his feet marked the restoration of his position as a son and a prince. The son is not going to be a servant in his father’s house, but a son and a prince. The father ordered the fattest calf to be slaughtered and called for a celebration with his friends and neighbors for the return of his lost son. The celebration is not only a celebration of a returned lost son; it is a celebration of the father’s immense love and compassion.

In reality, this parable is misnamed. It shouldn’t have been called the parable of the Prodigal Son, because the son is not the hero. The son is not at its center, the father is.  It should have been called “The Parable of the Prodigal Father” or “the Parable of the  Loving Father. It tells us rather about the Father’s lavished love. Webster’s dictionary defines the word prodigal as “exceedingly or recklessly wasteful,” or “extremely generous; lavish.” If anyone is prodigal in this story, it is the father! That’s God! He never gives up on us. He loves us unconditionally regardless of what we do and nothing can ever change that. God is the Prodigal Father! His love is exceedingly lavished!