Enkindle in Them the Fire of Your Love: 4th Sunday of Lent (C)

Liturgical readings

Joshua 5:9a, 10-12
Psalm 34
2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

"Father, I have sinned against God and against you."

The prodigal son. This is the traditional title of the gospel parable on the story of a young man, who gets his inheritance early, and spends it in dissolute living. Even though we know the story by heart, it is good to reread it again and to hear it proclaimed in the Sunday Mass. There are three main characters in the story. They are, in order of the narrative: a wealthy man with two sons; the younger son who led a sinful life; and an elder son who stayed home and helped his father's business. The story says that a famine then broke out and the younger son came to his senses - went back home, and begged forgiveness from his father. His father mercifully welcomed him back and gave a party. The elder son however was indignant because he was not as lavishly attended to with a party as his younger brother.

In a Lenten sermon, St. Maximus the Confessor identifies the younger son as a "profligate" young man and places God in the role of the young son's father. He says that God in His Goodness was moved with pity at the sight of his "profligate son", ran to embrace him, told His servants to dress him once more in fine garments, and did not reproach him for any of his sins. St. Maximus mentions this parable together with other parables and stories: the parable of the Good Samaritan, the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost silver coin, and many more stories on the gospels related to the theme of his Lenten sermon - "the Mercy of God to the penitent".

For some of us seasoned Catholics, because of our many experiences in life, we can see ourselves in the place of the profligate son or the elder son, and then also find ourselves in the same role as the merciful father or parent, who welcomes back a wayward but repentant son or child to the family. But whether we are in our youth, in midlife, or in our senior years, we can take this Lenten opportunity to take stock of where we are at the present: In which direction is my life leading? Am I becoming like the wayward son? Am I developing an attitude like the elder son? Or am I becoming more like the merciful father or parent, who welcomes back a disobedient but repentant child or significant other?