March 31st 2019. Fourth Sunday of Lent
GOSPEL Luke 13, 1-9
Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio
Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading . . .
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GOSPEL Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,
but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
So to them Jesus addressed this parable:
“A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father,
‘Father give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’
So the father divided the property between them.
After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country
where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.
When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country,
and he found himself in dire need. So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens
who sent him to his farm to tend the swine.
And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any.
Coming to his senses he thought, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers
have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger.
I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him,
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”’ So he got up and went back to his father.
While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion.
He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.
His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you;
I no longer deserve to be called your son.’
But his father ordered his servants, ‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him;
put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast,
because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again;
he was lost, and has been found.’
Then the celebration began.
Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house,
he heard the sound of music and dancing.
He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean.
The servant said to him, ‘Your brother has returned
and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf
because he has him back safe and sound.’
He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house,
his father came out and pleaded with him.
He said to his father in reply, ‘Look, all these years I served you
and not once did I disobey your orders;
yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends.
But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes,
for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’
He said to him, ‘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.’”
but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
So to them Jesus addressed this parable:
“A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father,
‘Father give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’
So the father divided the property between them.
After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country
where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.
When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country,
and he found himself in dire need. So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens
who sent him to his farm to tend the swine.
And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any.
Coming to his senses he thought, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers
have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger.
I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him,
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”’ So he got up and went back to his father.
While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion.
He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.
His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you;
I no longer deserve to be called your son.’
But his father ordered his servants, ‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him;
put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast,
because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again;
he was lost, and has been found.’
Then the celebration began.
Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house,
he heard the sound of music and dancing.
He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean.
The servant said to him, ‘Your brother has returned
and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf
because he has him back safe and sound.’
He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house,
his father came out and pleaded with him.
He said to his father in reply, ‘Look, all these years I served you
and not once did I disobey your orders;
yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends.
But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes,
for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’
He said to him, ‘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.’”
The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ
Kieran’s summary . . . The Fourth Sunday of Lent is traditionally dedicated to joy. We must keep in mind that the penitence of Lent is not a sterile perfectionism but a path to true joy. The Parable of the Prodigal Son gives us a perfect opportunity to reflect on this theme. The younger son goes in search of joy, taking the same path that is taken by so many in our society, the path of complete autonomy in search of worldly pleasure and fulfilment. But this leads to the abyss of despair, prompting the son to “re-enter into himself”. This “re-entering into himself” involves a return to the truth about himself and a rediscovery of how wonderful his father really is. We know the rest of the story. He is welcomed home by his father and a big celebration begins. Now the older brother enters the scene. He is actually a central figure in this parable for he shows us that a servile, external adherence to the Lord does not lead to joy but to bitterness. He considers himself righteous and is angry that his wayward brother should be “rewarded” for his transgressions. In this, the older brother shows that he believes that real enjoyment comes from these forbidden worldly pleasures. We see, in fact, that this older brother is as far away from his father as the younger brother was when we left home. He is not in right relationship with his father and his life is consequently lacking in real joy.
Christian penitence is not sterile perfectionism but a path to true joy. But what is the source of
authentic joy?
Traditionally, the fourth Sunday of Lent is dedicated to joy – Laetare Sunday. The idea is to illuminate
the Lenten journey so that we appreciate better that it is really a path to Easter rejoicing. Christian
penitence, in fact, is not a sterile perfectionism but a path to true joy. But where does this joy come
from? And what is it opposed to? The liturgy for Sunday presents us with the parable of the merciful
father. It starts with a banquet in which Jesus is challenged by the Pharisees and scribes, who complain
about the dubious moral character of the guests: "He welcomes sinners and eats with them".
In response Jesus tells them a parable: “A man had two sons . . .” The parable is aimed at the
scribes and Pharisees, and thus the central figure is really the last character, often
overlooked in the comments, the only one who does not arrive at the party: the older
brother. He is not able to enter into joy.
When he is at the point of despair, he “returns to himself”. He rediscovers the truth of who he is
and the goodness of his father
Our collective imaginations are usually more captivated by the intriguing story of the younger brother,
who arrives at the feast by a complicated route, the pathway of failure. His delirium of autonomy
leads him to look for pleasure and fun as far away as possible from his father. This is not surprising.
There is a widespread deception in our world that one can only truly live when one is free from all
authority; when one has become the absolute centre of one’s own existence. The sad discovery of the
prodigal son is that these carnal pleasures produce no real joy, but only self-destruction. Once he has
arrived at the abyss of despair, he began his salvation with a wonderful phrase - which alone would
deserve a lot of reflection -: "Then he came back to himself ..." (translated in the English text as
“Coming to his senses, he . . .”). To re-enter into oneself, to return to oneself, to rediscover one's
true heart, to regain contact with one's own wisdom. This man finally starts to understand his father.
He had gone to look for paradise in distant countries, but he discovered that his father's house was the
most beautiful place in the world. When he comes home he will discover this even more. But he
would not have returned home if his vision of himself and reality had not been shattered. Now,
finally, he can be happy in his own home.
The older brother is actually more distant from his father than the younger one. He treats his
father as a taskmaster. His obedience is servile and brings him no joy. His comments reveal
that he really believes that joy and fulfilment come from being completely free to do whatever
gives us pleasure. But this is the path, not to joy, but to destruction
The elder brother is actually in a much worse situation. He has allowed himself to look upon his Father as a master, not as a father. He has taken on a servile mindset. With his slave mentality, he can't change his image of his father. "I've been serving you for so many years and I've never disobeyed your command." He thinks negatively of his father, perceiving him as a taskmaster. And because he feels that his behaviour has been right all along, he does not arrive at the moment of crisis; he does not question himself. His contempt for his brother reveals the extent of his self-deception: the prodigal is celebrated, even though, it appears, he has returned from a life of fun! The older brother actually envies the younger brother for the pleasures that he has had, and is angry that he is then rewarded with a party! For the older brother, his idea of sin is that of forbidden pleasure. He doesn’t realize that it is actually a form of death. And then he refuses to enter the feast for his younger brother because his idea of a party is of a kid goat with a few of his friends – a miserable celebration by comparison! The Lord has much more to give us than that! Above all he has given us a lost brother to be reunited with.
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