In this week’s gospel, Jesus tells a parable with three characters; a man and his two sons.
The younger son said to his father, “Give me my share of the inheritance” and went far away to another country. He spent everything he had in “dissolute living.” Then a famine came and the son took a rotten and degrading job that still left him without enough to eat. After a while, the son realized that the people who worked for his father were much better off than he was, so he made his way home. He planned to admit his error and ask for a low-level job, since he had thrown away his relationships and position in the family.
When the father saw the younger son at a distance, he ran to him and embraced him. Paying no attention to his son’s confession of his terrible mistake, the father called for servants to bring the son all the signs of his place in the family; the best robe, a ring, and sandals. The father ordered a feast to celebrate the son’s return.
The older son had been out working in the fields, and when he returned, the party was in full swing. When a servant told him the celebration was for his brother’s return, the older son was furious and refused to go in. The father came out and pleaded with him. The older son bitterly complained that he had been faithful and consistent, and had never received a little party with his friends. He was angry that the father was throwing a feast for his brother who had behaved so disrespectfully to the father, the older brother, the family, and himself.
The father told the older son his bond with the father was as strong as ever, and all that belonged to the father belonged to the older son, too. “But we had to celebrate and rejoice because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.”
This parable resonates with us for so many reasons. The older and younger sons both play familiar roles that remind us of struggles and conflicts in our own lives. Sometimes we are arrogant and self-centered, walking away from the relationships or places that have shaped and helped us, insisting that we can do better without their interference. Sometimes we are self-righteous and self-centered, resenting compassion or forgiveness offered to people around us who have made mistakes. The father offers forgiveness for the younger son’s previous choices and the older son’s resentment, encouraging reconciliation.
We learn so much about God in this parable. God lets us go when we want to arrogantly strike out on our own. Yet, like the father who does not stand on ceremony or propriety, when we turn back toward home, God runs to us and embraces us, then celebrates our return. When we resent God’s generosity toward someone who has hurt us, God urges us to see that we are all beloved children, treasured by God.
The parable rings true, because these very struggles play out over and over again in all our lives. The situations keep changing, but the love, welcome, and reconciliation God brings is constant.
Peace,
weekly prayer | Parable of the father and two sons from Luke 15