For this my son was dead and is alive again; he 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 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 there 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."  These first two verses from chapter 15 of Luke's Gospel set us up for the parable that follows.  In between, Jesus gave two parables in response to the complaint of the Pharisees and scribes:  the parable of the Lost Sheep and the parable of the Lost Coin.  See yesterday's reading, above, for those two parables.  The third parable that Jesus offered is the parable of the Lost or Prodigal Son, which follows in today's reading.  

 

 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. "  My study Bible remarks on this request for his portion of goods (in the Greek, οὐσία/ousia is here translated as "goods."  It can also more frequently and literally mean "essence," or "substance"; here it may be translated as "property").  It notes that this indicates human beings receiving free will and a 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.  

"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."   To feed swine as livelihood is something my study Bible likens to being on "Jewish Skid Row."  It's a place from which the man could not sink much lower.  

"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 am no longer worthy to be called your son.  Make me like one of your hired servants."'"  This striking phrase, that he came to himself, is important to note.  My study Bible comments that to be immersed in sin is living outside one's true self (Romans 7:17-20).  This prodigal or lost son realizes his hopeless condition.  The bread is a symbol of Christ, who is known through the Scriptures and through the Eucharist.  

"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.'"  My study Bible comments that, in Jewish culture, it was considered to be unseemly for an older man to run.  But here the father did not simply passively stand by and wait for his son to return.  He ran to him.  This is self-humiliation for the sake of the lost -- as Christ humbled Himself on the Cross -- and indicates the way in which our father, through Christ's sacrifice, actively seeks those who stray.

"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."  My study Bible has notes on the significance of several elements in these verses.  The robe indicates the righteousness which is granted by baptism (Isaiah 61:10), the signet ring is family identity (Haggai 2:23), and the sandals indicate walking according to the gospel (Ephesians 6:15).  The fatted calf, it says, is more closely translated "wheat-fed bull-calf," or even more literally "a bull-calf formed from wheat."   This is a male calf raised on wheat in preparation for use as a religious offering.  So, as the reconciliation of the prodigal son was not complete without the sacrifice of the calf, my study Bible notes, so the reconciliation of humankind to God is not by our repentance only -- but by Christ offering Himself on the Cross.  The festive dining on an animal offering "formed from wheat" is a clear reference to our partaking of the eucharistic bread.

"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."  This resentful older son represents the hardheartedness of the Pharisees and their attitudes, to whom Christ was telling the parable (see the first verses at the top of today's reading).  My study Bible cites St. Cyril of Alexandria, who comments that that God requires followers to rejoice when even the most blamable man is called to repentance.  

"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.'"  The older son tells his father, "I never transgressed your commandment at any time."   My study Bible points out that this failure of the older son to recognize his own sins leads to his self-righteous and merciless attitude.  It asks us to contrast this with the contrition of the younger son. St. Ambrose of Milan is quoted as commenting, "The one who seems to himself to be righteous, who does not see the beam in his own eye [Luke 6:42], becomes angry when forgiveness is granted to one who confesses his sin and begs for mercy."   This older son's ingratitude is apparent in his accusation against his father, "you never gave me a young goat" -- as his father has given him all that he has.

 

One striking aspect of the story of the Prodigal or Lost Son is the ingratitude of the older brother.  While he clearly resents the younger brother, who has gone off in a kind of rebellion against his father, and squandered what he was given, it says something about the older one that he is subsequently ungrateful to his father.  So much so, that he doesn't recognize that, in his life with his father, he has always had all that the father has.  It gives us a picture of the poisonous nature of ingratitude, in that he is blinded to the great goodness and substance that was already his.  His resentment of the younger son is important, too, because the rivalry in which he engages is destructive to both relationships, that with his father and his brother also.   It's important to note that both brothers suffered from ingratitude, but the youngest learned a lesson by experience, while the second is corrected by his father.  The Gospels give us a picture of our relationship to God which teaches us that comparison with others is not appropriate and not helpful.  At the memorable ending of John's Gospel, Jesus asks St. Peter three times, "Do you love Me?" and three times, when Peter responds in the affirmative, Jesus tells him, "Feed My lambs."  But then Peter turns toward the disciple John, the author of the Gospel, and asks the risen Christ, "But Lord, what about this man?"  Jesus tells him, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me" (see John 21:15-22).  That story forms the close of John's Gospel, and it leaves us with a very important teaching, pertinent to today's story of the Prodigal or Lost Son.  We're not to compare ourselves to one another.  Each of us has a particular cross to bear of our own, and in that drama of the cross in our own lives, only God knows the heart and can judge how we do, what is appropriate to each of us, where our progress is in discipleship.  As these two young men in the story are brothers, so each one of us is a brother or a sister as a disciple in Christ, and so we need to learn what Jesus says to St. Peter at the end of John's Gospel, "What is that to you? You follow Me."  Each of us needs to hear and follow this teaching.  But perhaps in that context, we should review our commentary from yesterday's reading, in which we read the two preceding parables in this chapter of Luke's Gospel, of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin.  We must continually return to the subject of God's tremendous love and longing for us, exemplified in the sacrifice of the Son, Jesus.  There is no sacrifice so great that it is beyond God's love for us, God's desire that we return, like the Prodigal, who "was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found."  Clearly the older brother was meant as an example to the Pharisees and scribes, who considered themselves to be faithful to God's commandments, and complained that Christ received and ate with tax collectors and sinners.  Our relationship with God exists on two levels for us to consider.  There is a communal or collective level in which we worship (the phrase "Our Father" in the prayer given to us by Jesus teaches us that we are to pray and worship in that sense).  In this sense, both the prodigal and the older son are sons of the father and must accept their roles as such; Christ uses these parables to explain God's love for the "lost" to the "obedient" Pharisees.  But then there is the personal level, in which we are each asked to carry our crosses daily by Christ, and this is where we must consider that how we follow Christ is not something to compare with another.  Our cross is the one given to us; our devotion to God must be as a child who returns to the One who loves us beyond all our understanding of love and desire.  If the Lord is patient with others, let us then consider God's patience and love for us, for each of us is desired in God's kingdom.  Each of us is longed for, and welcomed back to the point of God's own humiliation in the Cross of Christ (1 Corinthians 1:22-24; 2 Corinthians 5:21), just as the elderly father runs toward his younger, straying, shamed, and humiliated son.  We should be nothing but joyful over that aspect of God's love for us all.  There's a final hidden note here in the humiliation and failure of the son who returns to his father, and that is the shame he bears, who yet goes home.  It's God's love that overcomes our shame, God's love that receives us when we fail and when others might heap shame and dishonor upon us, God's love that welcomes us back if we will but return that love and return to God.  Like St. Peter returning back to Christ and to the disciples after his denial three times in the courtyard of the high priest, and his bitter tears as testimony to his shame and failure (Luke 22:31-34, 54-62), we are all desired back by a loving Father and Lord, if we but pay attention to what we truly need and where we have failed.  Life is a continual test of bearing that cross, and carrying it back to our Lord to show us how, to take away our shame and failure, to give us God's love.   But it is we who must be humble enough to turn back to Him.  

 

 

Let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he 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 there 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."  Today's reading begins  with verses 1 and 2, from yesterday's reading, above, as the parable Jesus gives in today's reading is the third one He gave in response to these complaints.  Yesterday we read the parables of the Lost Sheep, and the Lost Coin.  Today we are given the parable commonly known as the Prodigal Son.

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."  In Greek the son's request for his portion of goods uses the Greek term ousia/ουσια for "goods." which literally means "essence" or "substance."  My study Bible comments that this indicates humankind receiving free will and a rational mind from God.  As did Adam in Eden, this younger son uses his possessions given to him to rebel against his father.  The far country, it says, represents life in exile from God.  

"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."  My study Bible says that feeding swine could rightly be called "Jewish Skid Row."  He could not sink much lower.  

"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."   We note that the text tells us that he came to himself.  Here my study Bible tells us that a person who is immersed in sin is living outside of one's true self (Romans 7:17-20).  This prodigal son realizes his hopeless condition.  The bread 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.' "  Although it was considered to be unseemly in Jewish culture for an old man to run, my study Bible says, we read here that the father did not passively stand by and wait for his son to return.  He ran to him.  It notes that this self-humiliation for the sake of the lost indicates the way in which our Father, through Christ's sacrifice, actively seeks those who stray.

 

"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."  The significance of the robe, according to my study Bible, is righteousness granted by baptism (Isaiah 61:10), the signet ring is family identity (Haggai 2:23), and the sandals refer to walking according to the gospel (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 notes for us that fatted calf is more closely translated "wheat-fed bull-calf."  Even more literally, it would be translated "a bull-calf formed from wheat."  This is a male calf raised on wheat in preparation for use as a religious offering.  It says that the reconciliation of the prodigal son was not complete without the sacrifice of the calf, so man's reconciliation to God is not by his repentance alone, but by Christ offering Himself on the Cross.  Additionally, the festive dining on an animal offering "formed from wheat" is a clear reference to our partaking of the eucharistic bread.  (See also Matthew 22:4, in which the same term is used.)

"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."   My study Bible suggests that this resentful older son illustrates the hard-heartedness of the Pharisees to whom Christ was telling this parable (see verses 1 and 2 at the top of the reading).   Citing the commentary of St. Cyril of Alexandria, it notes that God requires God's followers to rejoice when even the most blamable person is called to repentance.

 

 "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.'"   The older son says, I never transgressed your commandment at any time:  my study Bible notes here that the failure of the older son to recognize his own sins leads to his self-righteous and merciless attitude.  Contrast this with the contrition of the younger son.  St. Ambrose of Milan comments, "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 sin and begs for mercy."   My study Bible adds that the older son's ingratitude is also apparent in his charge you never gave me a young goat to his father, who has given him all he has.

Once again, as in yesterday's reading and commentary, we are asked to look at this parable and understand God's great love for us.  Taking these three parables all together (those of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin in yesterday's reading, above, plus today's parable of the Prodigal Son), let us note that these three are considered together in patristic commentary.  Viewed in this way, the man with the lost sheep is considered to represent Christ, the woman with the missing coin represents the Church, and finally the father in today's parable is God the Father.  St. Ambrose of Milan comments:  "Christ carries the sinner, the Church seeks and intercedes, and the Father receives."  But, of course, the parable of the Prodigal Son stands out as one often quoted and used as an example of God's love, and the response to our repentance.  Clearly we are to understand from Jesus' words the vehement and expressive love of God the Father, as the older man, the father in the parable, runs to his son -- casting personal dignity aside to do so in favor of his joy at the return of his son.  This is a kind of joy we can understand if we have ever "lost" a friend or a loved one to a dispute or disagreement, or for whatever reason.  We can imagine our joy at their return, especially the love of a parent for a child, even -- if we may take things this specifically -- an older father for his youngest son.  Taking this image of the youngest son in mind, we might think back to the Old Testament story of Joseph and his brothers.  While it was his older brothers who betrayed and abandoned him, we just might still imagine the joy of Jacob (also called Israel) at finding his youngest son Joseph still alive (Genesis 45:24-28).  Youngest sons play quite a role in the Bible.  Perhaps, like Joseph shepherding the people of Israel through exile in Egypt, those penitents among us who come to God are shepherding the people of God through an entire world that we understand as a "strange land," for our home is with God (Exodus 2:21-22).  Perhaps today's story of the penitent younger son is meant in part to remind us all that, as Isaiah  says, God dwells among the humble and the contrite (Isaiah 57:15).  The elder son in today's parable reminds us that, even if we are "perfect," the dangers of self-righteousness are still with us.  We can but look around at those whose self-righteousness dismisses all need of repentance.  Perhaps very act of repentance teaches us something far more profound and deeply transformational than those who have no need to repent.  Indeed, if that is so, this story gives us the final teaching on a fallen world in which we find so much sin and all are touched by it.  The final chapter -- that of those redeemed and saved in Christ -- still has yet to be fully written and revealed to us.  Let us who know its value be truly thankful for our repentance, for this is where we come to ourselves.  There we find who we truly are, and where our true home is.

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

 

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 the 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 there 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."  These verses are repeated from the beginning of yesterday's reading (see above).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus gave two parables in response to the criticism that He receives sinners and eats with them.  In today's reading, we're given the third parable He spoke, that of the Lost Son or Prodigal Son.

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."  My study Bible comments that this request for the younger son's portion of goods (in Greek ousia/οὐσία, which literally means "essence" or "substance") indicates humankind receiving our free will and rational mind from God.  As Adam did in Eden, the younger son uses these possessions to rebel against his father.  The far country represents life in exile far from God.

"Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into the 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."  To feed swine might rightly be called living on "Jewish skid row," my study Bible notes.  This son could not sink much lower.  

"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."  We note that the text says this young man came to himself.  My study Bible notes that a person who is immersed in sin is living outside one's true self (Romans 7:17-20).  This prodigal realizes his hopeless condition.  The bread which is eaten by his father's hired servants in his father's home symbolizes Christ, who is 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.'"  Although it was considered unseemly in Jewish culture for an old man to run, my study Bible notes, the father did not passively stand by waiting for his son to return.  Simply from the first sign of the son's return, the older man ran to him.  My study Bible comments that this self-humiliation for the sake of the lost indicates the way in which God our Father, through Christ's sacrifice, actively seeks those who stray.

"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."  There are several significant symbols in the father's response to his son.  According to my study Bible, the robe signifies the righteousness granted by baptism (Isaiah 61:10).  The signet ring is family identity; he is once again under the name of his father (Haggai 2:23).  Finally, the sandals refer to walking according to the gospel (Ephesians 6:15).  The phrase translated fatted calf would be more closely rendered "wheat-fed bull-calf," or even more literally, "a bull-calf formed from wheat."  My study Bible says that this is a male calf raised on wheat in preparation for use as a religious offering.  It says that as the reconciliation of the prodigal son was not complete without the sacrifice of the calf, so our reconciliation to God is not by our repentance alone, but by Christ's offering Himself on the Cross.  The festive dining on an animal offering "formed from wheat" therefore becomes a clear reference to our partaking of the eucharistic bread. 

"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."   My study Bible comments that the resentful older son illustrates the hardheartedness of the Pharisees to whom Christ is telling this parable.  According to St. Cyril of Alexandria, God requires us to rejoice when even the most blamable person is called to repentance.

"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.'"  The older son says, "I never transgressed your commandment at any time."   According to my study Bible, the failure of the older son to recognize his own sins leads to his self-righteous and merciless attitude.  This attitude is contrasted with the contrition of the younger son.  St. Ambrose of Milan is quoted:  "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 sin and begs for mercy."   Moreover, my study Bible comments, the older son's ingratitude is also apparent in his charge to his father, "You never gave me a young goat," when the father has given him all he has ("all that I have is yours").

If we take the perspective of the older son in this parable, Jesus seems to be suggesting that the scribes and Pharisees might be resentful of Christ's loving attitude toward the tax payers and sinners.  Why should God come into the world, as Incarnate Christ, both divine and human, and seek the sinners?  What about those who have always been loyal to the covenant?  It seems that this seeks to address a kind of resentment that is possible on the part of the religious Jews who recognize Christ at least as a holy Man, and so we can read into the complaint of the Pharisees and scribes a resentment that Jesus criticizes them, and yet receives and eats with tax collectors and sinners.  But what Christ emphasizes here is that His mission into the world is one of salvation, to rescue and free the ones captive to the evil one, to seek and find the lost sheep, as illustrated in the parable He gave yesterday.  This casts a light on the reading, on the character and mission of Christ, and on the love of God which we might miss otherwise should we not examine this aspect of the parable.  What else can we call God's deep drive to save except love?  Over and over again, Jesus illustrates this deep and true impulse as the quality of His mission.  As noted in yesterday's reading, we might recall His mission across a threatening and stormy sea to save one man oppressed by a Legion of demons in a forsaken place (Luke 8:22-39).   The parable of the lost sheep in yesterday's reading is a clear indication of this -- that a shepherd would leave ninety-nine sheep in the wilderness to go after one is something that any first century hearer would no doubt remark upon.  Both the parable and the incident from chapter 8 highlight the danger and risk involved in a saving mission which is counted as worthy for the sake of salvation.  In John's third chapter, when Jesus is teaching Nicodemus by night, He follows up the oft-quoted statement in John 3:16 with this important clarification:  "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (see John 3:16-17).  What does the story of Christ's sacrifice on the Cross, alluded to here in today's parable through the sacrifice of the "wheat-fed calf," mean to us except that He died for us that we might be saved?  The emphasis here is not so much on our own sinfulness -- for we all sin -- as on God's saving love for us that is willing to risk everything for the sake of that love.  It tells us, more powerfully than anything else, how precious we are to God, and what Christ is willing to go through to illustrate that love for all of us.  For of His saving mission He has said Himself, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends" (John 15:13).  If we take nothing else from this parable, we must understand -- as Jesus tries so vehemently and extensively in these three parables He gives to the Pharisees and scribes -- that His message is one of God's love; that He, who will go to the ends of the earth, to His death on the Cross as human being, will do whatever it takes to save.  The one thing that keeps us from this saving love is our own inability to receive it, our lack of returned faith and trust, our unwillingness to follow Him and to recognize that love.  God gives to us His all -- as Christ will give His all.  But in return, He asks us for our hearts and our trust, as Jesus prays to the Father, "that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them" (John 17:20-26)

 

 

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

 

Icon of the story of the Prodigal Son, 16th cent.   Khilandari Monastery, Mt Athos

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 there 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, swept 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."   We begin today's reading with the setting from yesterday's reading.  In response to the complaint of the Pharisees and scribes, Jesus told the parable of the Lost Sheep, and the parable of the Lost Coin (see yesterday's reading, above).  Each parable was given to illustrate the heavenly joy over a repentant sinner, at finding and reclaiming someone who had been lost.  Then He told them the parable of the Lost Son (also known as the parable of the Prodigal Son), which is what we're given in today's reading.  My study Bible says that the man in the first parable, the woman in the second, and the father in today's reading are considered in patristic literature to represent successively Christ, the Church, and God the Father.  St. Ambrose of Milan comments, "Christ carries the sinner, the Church seeks and intercedes, and the Father receives."

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."   In the son's request for his portion of goods, the Greek word ousia/οὐσία is used for "goods."  This word literally means "essence" (sometimes used as "substance").  My study Bible says that it indicates humankind receiving free will and a rational mind from God.  As did Adam in Eden, the younger son uses these possessions to rebel against his father.  The far country represents life in exile from God.

"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."  My study Bible says that feeding swine could rightly be called "Jewish Skid Row," and that he could not sink much lower.

 "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's significant that the text says, "He came to himself."  My study Bible comments that a person immersed in sin is living outside of one's true self (Romans 7:17-20).   The prodigal recognizes that his is a hopeless condition.  The bread is a symbol of Christ, who is known both through the Scriptures and also through 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."   In Jewish culture of the time, it was considered unseemly for an old man to run.  But the father in Christ's parable does not passively stand by waiting for his son to return -- he ran to him.  My study Bible says that this self-humiliation for the sake of the lost indicates the way in which our Father, through Christ's sacrifice, actively seeks those who stray.

"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."   My study Bible explains that there is symbolic significance to each of the things the father gives to his son.  The robe signifies righteousness granted by baptism (Isaiah 61:10), the signet ring is family identity (Haggai 2:23), and the sandals refer to walking according to the gospel (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."   Fatted calf is more closely translated from the Greek as "wheat-fed bull-calf," my study Bible comments. Even more literally is means "a bull-calf formed from wheat."  This would be a male calf which would be raised on wheat in preparation for specific use as a religious offering.  As the reconciliation of the prodigal son would not be complete without the sacrifice of the calf, so our reconciliation to God not done by repentance only, but by Christ offering Himself on the Cross out of love for us.  My study Bible says that the festive dining on an animal offering "formed from wheat" is a clear reference to our partaking of the eucharistic bread. 

"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."  My study Bible tells us that the resentful older son is an illustration of the hard-heartedness of the Pharisees to whom Christ is telling this parable.  It cites the commentary of St. Cyril of Alexandria, who writes that God requires the faithful to rejoice when even the most blamable person is called to repentance.

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.' "  The elder son says to his father:  "I never transgressed your commandment at any time."  This statement truly invites comparison to the Pharisees and scribes, as Christ has often portrayed them.  My study Bible says that the failure of the older son to recognize his own sins leads to his self-righteous and merciless attitude.  This is in contrast to the contrition of the young son.  St. Ambrose of Milan is quoted as saying, "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 the one who confesses his sin and begs for mercy."   The ingratitude of the older son is also clear when he states that "you never gave me a young goat" to his father, who has already given him "all that I have."

Sometimes we can't help but evoke the jealousy or envy of others.  This is just one thing made clear in the story of the Prodigal Son (or the Lost Son, a title which highlights the nature of Christ's response to the Pharisees).  Jesus tells this parable, as He did the two parables in yesterday's reading (above), in order to illustrate the immense joy in all of heaven over even one sinner who repents -- someone who was lost to heaven but who returns through repentance.  So it is with this younger son.  But if we look at the older son, it's important to understand that he has always had all that the father owned at his disposal.  This is not a stingy or mean father, but one with immense, boundless love for his sons, and great generosity that accompanies it.  But the older son nevertheless envies the young when he returns, as he sees the father's joy clearly expressed in this reunion banquet.  Perhaps he feels taken for granted, or he's simply failed to understand his father's love for him.  Possibly he does not know the difference between a kind of obedience that is about following the rules, and one borne of love and loyalty.  There is an interesting story in the Old Testament, about Jacob wrestling with a mysterious person, and finally receiving a blessing (Genesis 32:22-31).  Jacob says afterward, "I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved."  The notion that wrestling with God is a good thing takes us to a place where we are to understand that love is not a legalistic form of servitude, but one of communion, of addressing difficult issues, and in particular our own ways of thinking that might need change, repentance, reconsidering.  And there we find the older brother:  perfect in every way, but not perfect in understanding and accepting the fullness of what love is.  The "lost son" was not necessarily wrong because he went away, but he was wrong in his prodigal and wasteful behavior, in not realizing what he had and who he was.  He failed to treat his father's gift with respect.  His going away was, in effect, a selfish act and an expression of his own blindness.  But in the older brother we see a similar blindness in terms of his understanding of the love of the father.  Love of God invites a joy when that love is shared and renewed in others.  It invites us to be expansive, and not limited in our understanding of grace and its infinite capacities for us and for others as well.  We are not diminished when love is a circle, but rather, we are expanded. Envy seems to be at the heart of so many ills, a type of root sin that causes problem after problem in Scripture, including in the angels who rebel against God.  This is a type of pride and selfishness, an unwillingness to understand humility as leading to gracious and abundant life.  The lost son's loss of everything, his "rock bottom" in being forced to feed and eat the food of swine due to his reduced circumstances, actually serves as a favor for his true well-being and realization of who he is.  When everything is stripped away, we stand a chance to come to terms with who we really are, and to realize the love of God which is always there for us when it seems like nothing else is.  We can take pride in our possessions and good fortune, including our own image of perfection, and take everything else for granted.  This is a false confidence that results in envy, a false kind of sense of self that is betrayed by its own lack of understanding of God's unlimited and abundant love, and our own need to grow in that love as well.  Let us contend with our own failure to take root and confidence in God's ever-surprising and eye-opening love, and see where it leads us in life.  We may find that life is even more infinitely abundant than we thought -- and that we in turn may be expanded ourselves.  In the icon above, the story shows Christ as the character of the father, and we are meant to understand the love and forgiveness of Christ, the repentance that turns us back to finding our place with Him, and with the angels above, who rejoice.

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 Christ 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 there 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 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."  My study bible comments that regarding the son's request for his portion of goods, the  original Greek word used here for "goods" or property is ousia/οὐσίας, which literally means "essence" or "substance."  That "portion of goods" or "substance" that human beings receive from God is our free will and rational mind.  This is what makes us made "in the image and likeness of God."  So, as Adam did in Eden, the younger son uses these possessions to rebel against his father.  The far country represents life in exile from God. 

"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."  To feed swine is, for this man, something my study bible says could be called "Jewish Skid Row."  In popular parlance, he's hit rock bottom.  He could not sink much lower.

"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."  There is a great revelation in this language in the Gospel, that the son came to himself.  My study bible comments that a person immersed in sin is living outside his true self (Romans 7:17-20).  Here, this recognition comes with the realization of his hopeless condition.  The bread of the father's hired servants is symbolic of Christ, known to us both through the Scriptures and the Eucharist (John 6:51). 

 

"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.' "  Although it was considered unseemly in Jewish culture for an old man to run, this father does not passively stand by and wait for his son to return.  Instead, He ran to him.  My study bible points out that this self-humiliation for the sake of the lost is an illustration of the way in which God our Father, through the sacrifice of Christ himself, actively seeks those who stray.  This is a love that is ashamed of nothing in pursuit of the beloved who is lost, in order to be returned and found again.

"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."  The significance of the robe is explained by my study bible as righteousness granted by baptism (Isaiah 61:10).  The signet ring is family identity (Haggai 2:23).  The sandals refer to walking according to the gospel (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."  Etymologically, the Greek for fatted calf is more closely translated "wheat-fed bull-calf," or even more literally as "a bull-calf formed from wheat."  My study bible suggests that this is a male calf which is raised on wheat, in preparation for use as a religious offering.   It notes that as the reconciliation of the prodigal son was not complete without the sacrifice of the calf, so man's reconciliation to God is not by repentance alone, but by Christ offering Himself on the Cross.  The festive dining on an animal offering which is "formed from wheat" is clearly a reference to our partaking of the eucharistic bread.  See also Matthew 22, verse 4, in the context of the wedding feast.

"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.'"   As Jesus is addressing the Pharisees (see verses 1 and 2 at the top of today's reading), the resentful older son is an illustration of their hardheartedness regarding the sinners who now dine with Jesus and become His disciples.  My study bible cites the commentary of St. Cyril of Alexandria, that God asks followers to rejoice when even the most blamable person is called to repentance.  He tells the father, "I never transgressed your commandment at any time."  This is reminiscent of the Pharisees, for whom scrupulous following of commandments found in the Scriptures was all-important, developing a legalistic perspective of faith.  My study bible says that the failure of the older son to recognize his own sins leads to his self-righteous and merciless attitude.   This is in contrast to the contrition of the younger son.  St. Ambrose of Milan comments, "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 sin and begs for mercy."  My study bible also notes that the older son's ingratitude is apparent in his charge to his father that "you never gave me a young goat."  Clearly, his father has given him all he has (verse 31). 

For what are we grateful?  For many of us, this year has been one of many trials, and even losses.  We have been contending with the COVID-19 virus and its restrictions on movements, gatherings, work places, employment, and so many other things.  Personal friends have lost loved ones in a shockingly quick time, and are contending with the grief for the person lost to them, and shock at the outcome upon otherwise healthy people.  Whole societies, of course, have gone into lockdown.  We cope also with the strangeness of elections during this time, and the uncertainty that continues around that.  Moreover, there are those of us contending with horrible warfare of a terribly aggressive nature, including Christians of various denominations in the Middle East, as well as other religious and ethnic minorities.  For the Armenian people and the generations recovering from 20th century genocide, there is a dire threat of a repeat of the same, and also the loss of precious culture and historical monuments.  These are mostly religious in nature, including a monastery that dates back to Apostolic times. This is, unfortunately, a case of the strong against the weaker and smaller, an aggressor with no qualms regarding targeting those who are helpless.  In such a time and with such feelings of loss on so many fronts this year, we may find it hard to be grateful to God for anything that we have.  But -- even as illustrated by this parable and so much else in the Bible and especially the Gospels -- we so often forget that our faith teaches us that God works through the small.  When we take time to be grateful for what we do have, to count even our blessings that remain to us, we set ourselves in the right place to approach God.  Those whose ancestors survived a genocide to thrive in new communities must recognize the goodness of what came out of those generations of survivors, their faith, their heritage, their resilience.  And, as a gift from Christ, all of this comes out of our Christian faith, for it is in our faith that we know Resurrection comes.  If we sit down to count the great blessings of rich heritage and culture, especially in the struggles of the Church and the art that came out of it, we know that we found "who we are."  If we recognize the love we find and know in our communities, and the choice for humane values, even for democracy, education, culture, and so many good things embraced even as a result of our faith, we have so much that is precious to be grateful for.  It sets us in the right place to understand who we are.  We remain those people -- no matter where we are in the world as faithful -- who are grateful for the blessing of the robe of baptism, the signet ring of the house of Christ, and the sandals through which we may follow His path.  Most of all, we know the Father's love, the One who always searches for us through all things and wants us close -- and in that "most of all" is especially Christ the Son, who gave His life for us and taught us the way of the Cross.  It is in this way that we find ourselves, and through which we remain most grateful.  Life is not about the working of evil in this world.  It is rather about the good that comes through even the evil, the Resurrection that is assured by way of the Cross.  Let us remember who we are, and not lose our place in the grand scheme of the cosmos, which is the salvation we have seen and known, and will continue to put our faith into even at this time.  For at the Cross, what is lost will be found in the promise of Christ.

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?