In the Liturgy of the Word, we have heard about Moses interceding for the Israelites in front of God. We have listened to the words of St. Paul, who thanks God for having shown him mercy.
Finally, we have heard the three parables of mercy: the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Prodigal Son. What is our reaction to God’s forgiveness?
The Gospel readings bring us various words that have to do with joy: we have “rejoice”, “joy”, “celebrate and rejoice”. This joy is to stem, is to originate from something or someone having been lost and being found. A sheep, a coin, a son. Joy is not just happiness, or contentment, or satisfaction, or pleasure. Joy is not just having a free weekend, or a full refrigerator. Joy cannot be fabricated or manufactured. Joy in the Christian life has as its object the revelation of God in Christ (c.f. Saliers, “Joy”, The New Dictionary of Catholic Spirituality, 1993). We can say that joy is an intensely personal affection, because it centers on a person or persons, particularly upon the person of Jesus Christ.
The servants in the Parable of the Prodigal Son are in the background, waiting for the word of the father. It is the father’s word that admits the prodigal son to the feast, it is the father’s word that opens the door to this son who has returned – “quickly, bring out a robe…put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet” (Luke 15:22). This son has returned from a life of immorality and sinfulness. The servants are there to assist the father in the way he welcomes his lost son.
The scripture text does not say it outright, but we can assume that the servants also shared some of the joy of the father in having been reconciled to his son. It is interesting to note that the prodigal son must have returned famished, starving, the text says that he was literally “dying of hunger”. But when the son comes home, the first thing that the father gives him is not something to eat; the father does not say to his servants, “quickly, bring something to eat” – but “bring out a robe”. It seems that the father wants to reconcile first, to restore the son’s dignity, to restore the son’s status as a son – and then start a banquet.
If a heart, a person is reconciled, then simple baked beans and cabbage rolls will taste better than an exquisite spread and fancy cooking.
Our Father in heaven always waits for His children, His beloved sons and daughters. The Father wants to restore us to communion and fellowship with Him, and then, the Father wants to give us the things that we need for daily living.
Let us try to meet the Father’s generosity in forgiving with a quiet joy. The Catechism summarizes it in this way: “Jesus invites sinners to the table of the kingdom: "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." He invites them to that conversion without which one cannot enter the kingdom, but shows them in word and deed his Father's boundless mercy for them and the vast "joy in heaven over one sinner who repents" (Catechism, 545). Let us try to adopt the attitude of the servants in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, who assisted the father in welcoming back his son, rather than the attitude of the scribes and pharisees, who grumbled at the fact that Jesus ate with sinners.
Interestingly, the Catechism also calls Sunday the “day of joy”. It states that “Sunday, the ‘Lord's Day,’ is the principal day for the celebration of the Eucharist because it is the day of the Resurrection. It is the pre-eminent day of the liturgical assembly, the day of the Christian family, and the day of joy and rest from work (Catechism, 1193). On Sunday, we are called to celebrate the Resurrection, partake of a day for the Christian family, and experience a day of joy and rest from work.
As we give thanks for the Father’s mercy towards sinners, let us try to take to heart the last sentence of the Gospel: “We had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and now has been found”.
(Fr. Pawel Ratajczak, OMI, Sept. 15, 2019)