Foolish in the Eyes of the World
As you may have guessed by the famous painting of Rembrandt that is sprinkled throughout the website, the Parable of the Prodigal Son holds a very special place in my heart. Today’s Gospel reading is this parable. We have the privilege of hearing this parable at Sunday Mass every three years on the Fourth Sunday of Lent. This parable is really a masterful love story about a father whose mercy is so boundless that it appears foolish to the world, but that does not stop the father from loving and forgiving.
The parable begins, “A man had two sons…” where the younger decides that he’s had enough of home and dares ask his father for his share of the inheritance, virtually saying his father is dead to him. The father seemingly foolishly divides his estate up and gives it to him. Without a word of gratitude, the younger son sets off on his “new life” of debauchery and drunkenness, wasting every last penny of his share of the inheritance. When push came to shove, he’d rather hire himself out to foreigners to do work that no Jew would or could lawfully do instead of returning home. Isn’t this the story of many of us? Even when we have made decisions that we knew were bad and as the consequences were slowly manifesting, we remain stubborn and obstinate, refusing to ask for help or to admit to our wrongdoing. Instead we convince ourselves, “I’ve got this,” not from a spirit of trust in God’s Providence, but rather a spirit of excessive pride. Thankfully (and hopefully) the scales from our eyes and the locked door to our hearts eventually fall and unlock, and we come to accept that we have not always been right and we “turn around” and reach out to those whom we know will always answer us when we call. No surprise, the younger son in the parable also eventually came to his senses when he was literally fighting pigs for food. When he makes it home, his father embraces him and kisses him. His father sees only his son and not the hurtful things he may have said or done. All that matters is that his son is home. The same goes for God, our Father in heaven.
At this time I will not explore too much of the parable, but if you are interested, you can read, listen to, or watch the different reflections and conferences I offered on this beautiful encounter.
Let us always remember that we have a Father in heaven who is like the father in this parable who loves us so deeply that He seems like a fool to those without faith. He patiently waits for us to come home and when we do, He does not scold us or scream at us, rather, He embraces us and reminds us of our truest identity: His beloved sons and daughters, and nothing — no sin, no evil can ever take that away from us. How blessed are we!
