March 27th 2021.  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.’”

 The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

 

SUMMARY OF HOMILY

1. Jesus is having a banquet with sinners. This shocks the Pharisees, but the central message of Jesus is that sinners are invited to the joyous feast of union with the Father.

On Laetare Sunday we remember the mercy and generosity of the Father, recalling that our journey towards Easter is a journey towards joy. The Gospel narrative of the prodigal son is told by Jesus in the context of a banquet. The Scribes and Pharisees are upset that Jesus is eating with sinners. Their tendency is to think that the moral rectitude of man has to be the central consideration of our lives, of who we socialise with, and everything else, but this parable shows us a different way. The phrase that is most repeated in the parable is, “Your brother was dead, but has come to life again; he was lost and now is found”. This joy leads to the father organising a feast, and that is the reason that Jesus gives the Pharisees for the fact that he is feasting with sinners.

 

2. The younger son made a big mistake, but the older son is actually living in continuous error.

The thing that is most necessary is that people return to life, that the children of God live as children of God. If we read life from a horizontal perspective, then we will perceive that some people are more righteous than others. But if we read life from the perspective of the Father, then the thing that is most important is not whether a child has sinned but whether he has returned to life. The greatest risk, ironically, is the attitude of the older son, who lives close to the Father but has the attitude of a slave. He says, “All the years I have served you, and not once have you given me a young goat to celebrate with my friends”. The younger son was immoral, perverse and made a terrible error in leaving his home, but the older son has lived the continuous error of behaving like a slave in the house of his Father. The older son, in fact, is saying that he doesn’t want to celebrate with his Father; he would prefer to do his own thing with his own friends. “With you Father, I am just a slave, I’d prefer to do as my younger brother did and go away and have a feast elsewhere”.

 

3. It is more dangerous to live an “upright” life in self-righteousness than to live a less obedient life that is more open to my need of mercy

It seems absurd, but the older brother who keeps the rules externally is more globally in error than the younger brother who broke the rules recklessly. It is more dangerous to live in the conviction of one’s own righteousness than to be in error, and then rediscover my true identity through the mercy of the Father. People who are under the illusion of their own integrity find it more difficult to repent than sinners whose offences are obvious to everyone. This parable is usually named after the prodigal son or the merciful Father, but its real centre is the older son. The passage opens with the grumbling Pharisees and ends with the grumbling son who does not rejoice in the fact that his brother has been restored to life.

 

4. We must fear self-righteousness more than we fear sin itself

It is right that we fear sin, but we must also fear this attitude that resists conversion, an attitude of self-righteousness, judgment and grumbling. It is very difficult to be converted from a position of false rectitude. Sin, the dissolute life, is a terrible thing, but the Father is still greater than our sin. However, he also respects our freedom. If we consider ourselves righteous and say no to the mercy of the Father, then there is little that he can do. The prodigal son opens himself to the beauty of the Father, first of all through his hunger and deprivation. This Lent may the Lord grant us the grace to open ourselves to the Father and descend from the pedestal of our righteousness, from the presumption of self-sufficiency. All of us are impoverished and have desperate need to enter the feast of the Father.

 

ALTERNATIVE HOMILY

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.