It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found

 Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."

* * *

Then He said:  "A certain man had two sons.  And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.'  So he divided to them his livelihood.  And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.  But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.  Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.  And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.

"But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!  I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.  Make me like one of your hired servants."'  And he arose and came to his father.  But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.  And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.'  But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.  And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'  And they began to be merry.

"Now his older son was in the field.  And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.  So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.  And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.'  But he was angry and would not go in.  Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.  So he answered and said to his father, 'Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends.  But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.'  And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.  It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.'"

- Luke 15:1-2, 11-32

Yesterday we read that all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Jesus to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."  So He spoke this parable to them, saying:  "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?  And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'  I say to you that likewise will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.  Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?  And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!'  Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

 Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."  In our earlier readings in the week, Jesus had eaten at the home of one of the rulers of the Pharisees.  There He gave warnings about humility.  (See the readings from Saturday and Monday.)   In today's reading, we know that Jesus' ministry now has great multitudes gathering to hear Him, and among them are "all the tax collectors and the sinners."  In response to criticism from the Pharisees and scribes, in yesterday's reading He gave the two parables, above:  that of the lost sheep and the lost coin.  In today's reading, we're given a parable of a lost son as part of His response to the Pharisees and scribes.

Then He said:  "A certain man had two sons.  And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.'  So he divided to them his livelihood."  My study bible gives us a traditional patristic understanding of this story, in that the father represents God the Father.  In Greek, when the son asks for his "portion of goods" from his father, the word used here in Greek is ousia, meaning "essence" or "substance."  Symbolizing humankind, we receive our free will and rational mind from God.  As Adam did in Eden, my study bible says, the younger son uses these possessions to rebel against his father.  The far country represents life in exile from God.

"And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.  But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.  Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.  And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything."  We have our free will and rational mind, but we don't necessarily have the wisdom to know what to do with them.  Our lives -- and in particular our spiritual lives -- are a long learning curve.  To be feeding swine, my study bible says, indicates that this young man could not have sunk much lower.   This could be called "Jewish skid row."  In a far away country, no one gave him anything -- love and care are absent.  God's love and care are the keys to learning what our needs truly are.

"But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!  I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.  Make me like one of your hired servants."'  And he arose and came to his father."  It is important to note that he came to himself.  We can wander far away from an understanding of who we truly are; that is found in relationship to God.  My study bible says that a person immersed in sin is living outside his or her true self (Romans 7:17-20).  The prodigal realizes he is in a hopeless condition.  The bread, my study bible tells us, symbolizes Christ, known through the Scriptures and the Eucharist. 

"But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.  And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.'  But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet."  In Jewish culture, it was considered unseemly for an old man to run.  But so great is the joy and love of this father at seeing his son, that he would not simply stand by waiting for his son to return, and ran to him.  My study bible says that this self-humiliation for the sake of the lost indicates the way our Father, through Christ's sacrifice, actively seeks those who stray and have been lost to God.  The best robe signifies a righteousness which is granted through baptism (Isaiah 61:10), the signet ring is family identity (Haggai 2:23), and the sandals indicate walking according to the gospel, the word of God (Ephesians 6:15).

"And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'  And they began to be merry."  My study bible indicates that fatted calf is more closely translated as "wheat-fed bull-calf," or even more literally "a bull-calf formed from wheat."  This is a male calf which was raised on wheat in preparation for making it a religious offering.  The reconciliation of the prodigal son was not complete without the sacrifice of the calf, and our own reconciliation to God is not made by repentance alone -- but by Christ's offering of Himself on the Cross.  My study bible says that the festive dining on an animal offering which is "formed from wheat" is a clear reference to our own partaking of the eucharistic bread, Christ's sacrifice enacted through each Eucharist.

"Now his older son was in the field.  And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.  So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.  And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.'  But he was angry and would not go in.  Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him."  We remember that this is a parable being told to the Pharisees and scribes, who complain that tax collectors and sinners gather to Christ to hear Him.  They clearly are the figures of the resentful older brother, who displays hardheartedness toward those being called back to God.  While they are the nominally "perfect" who have not transgressed the Law, they lack the humility to rejoice at those who were lost "finding themselves" as did the prodigal son.  My study bible cites the commentary of Cyril of Alexandria, noting that God requires God's followers to rejoice when even the most blamable person is called to repentance.  The Jewish tax collectors working for Rome, frequently using means of extortion to take more than the required tax for themselves, certainly fit such a description.

"So he answered and said to his father, 'Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends.  But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.'  And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.  It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.'"  My study bible tells us here that the failure of the older son to recognize his own sins leads to a self-righteous and merciless attitude.  We can contrast this with the contrition of the younger son.  It quotes Ambrose of Milan:  "The one who seems to himself to be righteous, who does not see the beam in his own eye, becomes angry when forgiveness is granted to one who confesses his sins and begs for mercy."  While the older son complains to his father that "you never gave me a young goat," the truth is what the father tells him, that "all that I have is yours."

What is intriguing about this story is the resentment and envy hidden within the dynamic of the younger son who was lost and has been found, and the older brother who always remained with the father.  The Gospel will repeatedly turn to themes of resentment and envy when discussing the dynamic of Christ and the religious leadership.  While ostensibly the story is told in defense of the sinners -- even those notoriously so -- who gather to hear Christ now that great crowds follow Him, it is a parable given to the scribes and Pharisees who criticize.  But the Gospels give us the explanation of the betrayal and handing over of Christ to the Romans for crucifixion as envy.  Matthew and Mark tell us that Pilate, one experienced and seasoned in power hierarchies, understood that Christ was handed over to him out of envy (Matthew 27:18, Mark 15:10).   In this sense, there is a double message here to the religious leaders.  Not only is their grumbling about tax collectors and sinners linked to envy and resentment, but so is their rejection of Christ Himself.  What this does is link for us psychologically the problems of envy and resentment with a lack of humility.  As we have seen in the readings from Saturday and Monday,  even before their criticism of the fact that tax collectors and sinners gather to Jesus, He gave them parables about the importance of humility.  It is an essential quality for entrance into this Kingdom, for proper recognition of Christ's ministry.  While these learned men may be the scholars of their time, the religious authorities, experts in Scripture and the Law and the fullness of their tradition, their hearts are hardened to God's work in their midst because of their lack of humility.  They cannot recognize the presence of grace.  It is this that feeds envy and resentment, and this that makes them blind to the goodness of God that can restore life to those who are "lost" and therefore "perishing."  These are terms that convey the strongest of stark realities on spiritual terms which these men full well understand, and are clearly expressed as such in the father's words:  "for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found."  Our very lives depend in the fullest of senses on our communion with God; eventually it is a certitude that those who cannot or do not make their way back to the source of life will simply lose life in a spiritual and eternal sense.  Our being "found" is essential to the very nature of soul and spirit.  That takes us to Christ's words regarding discipleship, which is for all -- both the "perfect" and the notorious sinners, that we each must take up our own cross, the very definition of humility, a willingness to "lose" that takes us away from the selfishness at the root of envy and resentment.  "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels" (9:23-26)  The Pharisees and scribes in some sense "have the whole world," which includes the "best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces," and honorific titles (Matthew 23:6-7).  But it is precisely in our willingness to understand that we need who we truly are, our souls, more than we need to gain the whole world, that humility is learned.  The shame of this ministry that is there for the tax collectors and sinners is the willingness to bear humility that our Lord shows us and teaches us, so that we may gain what is in effect more precious than the whole world.  It doesn't matter where you are in life and who you are in life, this advice -- the discipleship of the Cross -- is particular for each one of us in our own lives and on a daily basis.  Where are you on that learning curve today?