March 27, 2022

My dear family of God,

Today we celebrate the 4th Sunday of Lent. This Sunday is also called Laetare Sunday. The name Laetare is from the Latin “rejoice,” from the introit for today which is taken from Isaiah 66, “Rejoice Jerusalem.” Rose-colored vestments are traditionally worn for today’s celebration.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son is the Gospel Reading for the 4th Sunday of Lent in Year C. This Gospel passage is recorded and preserved only in the Gospel of Luke. 

Today’s Gospel has been famously called the Parable of the Prodigal Son. This designation puts emphasis on the sin of the younger son who we are told in the Gospel spent his resources in “loose living.” Some biblical scholars and theologians have called this parable by different names such as “The Parable of the Merciful Father” or “The Parable of the Compassionate Father.” What this title does is to put emphasis not on the sin of the younger son but on the compassion of the father.

Pope Benedict XVI in his book Jesus of Nazareth referred to this parable as “The Parable of the Two Sons.” By this designation, Pope Benedict XVI contrasts the humility of the younger son and his repentance with the pride and anger of the older son who resents the mercy and forgiveness of his father towards his younger brother. Finally, there is also the designation “The Parable of the Lost Son.” This designation comes from the Gospel text itself. The father says, “This son was lost and now has been found.”

Now let us share a few thoughts on the parable. The younger son we are told goes to his father and asks for the inheritance that will fall to him in advance and leaves to a far country. The offense here is not so much about the wishing of his father's death but the destruction of the relationship he had with his father. He leaves for a distant country. By this action he was telling his father I don’t want to be in a relationship with you anymore. He rejects his father and his family and makes a choice for a distant country.

 In this distant country, a severe famine struck, and he was in need. He then hires himself out to feed pigs. Jesus’ audience would know this distant country is not a Jewish territory. Jews won’t rear pigs. So, for Jesus’ audience the themes of sin and exile will be ringing in the minds. This younger son had left the promised land to a Gentile territory where he suffered and lived in an unclean state. The lesson here is this: Sin separates us from God and our neighbor and when we are exiled from God, we like the prodigal son experience untold hardships, suffering and shame.

 In his distress, the younger son “came to himself.” He acknowledged the bad decisions and choices he had made, and made a resolution to return to his father, to confess his sins not only to his father but also to God. Upon his return, as he made his “act of contrition,” his father ordered that he be given “the best robe.” This recalls the coat of many colors in the story of Jacob and Joseph. The father’s attitude towards the son is that of compassion and he rejoices because “this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.” 

The relationship that was destroyed by sin is restored and spiritual death because of sin gives way to a spiritual resurrection. Lent offers us this beautiful opportunity to experience the joy of reconciliation, salvation, and resurrection. Our loving and compassionate Father awaits our return at the confessional. Will you make that resolution today and say, “I will arise and return to my father?”

Do have a grace-filled Lenten Season. Shalom!

Fr. James Ahenkora