The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home
March 30, 2025 – Fourth Sunday of Lent, Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
Download this simple process to Prepare for Sunday using the Observe, Judge, Act Method
Of all the parables told by Jesus, the one we hear today is perhaps the most baffling. It is a family story that defies common sense and logic, and while it has a happy ending, it’s not one that is expected. In fact, we might even object to it. Still, it contains a truth that is at the very heart of the teachings of Jesus. Two aspects of it deserve our consideration. First, God does not always act in a way that we might expect, and second, we are challenged to act in a similar way.
Most of us who value the teachings of Jesus are familiar with this story usually referred to as the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Some of us see in this parable our own lives. For instance, as a time when our love for someone moves us to forgiveness rather than judgment.
In brief, here is a summary of the parable. A father has two sons. One dutifully remains close to home, does what he is told and is faithfully responsible in fulfilling his dad’s wishes. In other words, a good son. The other son walks out on his family, ignores the expectations placed on him by his father, takes his unearned portion of the inherence he expects after the death of his father and blows it on wasteful living.
One day (likely weighed down with guilt) with empty pockets and a bowed head, he is spotted on the road that leads back to his father’s home. He needs a job, any job! The father sees him from a distance, drops what he is doing and runs to greet and embrace his seemingly lost son.
Soon a “welcome home party” is arranged for that son. Those close to this family are invited to celebrate the return of the reckless and runaway son. The faithful son watches all this unfold and grows in anger minute by minute. Later in the day he confronts his father, bewildered by all this and simply asks “why.” What is going on? It makes no sense.
The big heart of the dad simply focuses on the return of his son. The father appears to forgive the son’s past transgressions. The older son remains angry. To him the reaction of the forgiving father makes no sense. His whole world is constructed on justice and what he sees as fairness. He might be thinking, to use an old adage, that his father has lost his marbles. The father (a stand-in for God) holds to his decision to forgive. In the midst of his joy, he might even have a second cup of wine. Can we join him in a feast like this?
David M. Thomas, PhD