Today we hear in the Gospel of St Luke the story of the Prodigal son…We all know this story...So I am not going to address the obvious….Before St Luke tells us about the son who wastes his father’s wealth…We are told that the Pharisees and the scribes were complaining that Jesus was eating with public sinners…St Luke tells us that Jesus addresses the Pharisees with this parable in his Gospel account…..And St Luke does this for a reason…..”Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." So to them Jesus addressed this parable”…..St Luke is trying to communicate this story to those who “think’ they are perfect…Like the Pharisees and scribes did….The old brother in the parable, who did “everything right” in the story of the Prodigal son can be likened to the Pharisees and scribes….The elder brother did not celebrate his younger brother’s return to their father’s house….He did not have love in his heart…..This is a vital aspect of this parable that most people gloss over….The Pharisees and scribes did “everything right” - But they were still wrong! - Because they had no love for people…..God is not “impressed” by our sacrifices and works…While he asks of us to serve him - We are to serve him out of love - And what we do for God should not be treated as an idol because then it means nothing!…..If we do not have love in our heart for people, wanting what is best for them…All the works and sacrifices in the entire world mean absolutely nothing……”What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy”…….Our Catholic faith is not a matter of proving to others that “we are right”…Our heart must be centered on love of God and love of neighbor…..The elder brother in the story of the Prodigal Son did not celebrate when his younger brother “came around and came home”…..He refused to “enter the house”…..Remember, this son did “everything right” but he was lacking the most important quality of God - Love - He could not find it in his heart to forgive…..Mercy is not given to those you “deserve it” - Mercy is given to those who don’t deserve it - And I got some news for you - None of us “belong in heaven” - Its only out of mercy that God grants humanity eternal life - This is why we too must show mercy and love to our neighbor from the depths of our heart
'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.' But his father ordered his servants, 'Quickly, bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast”
When I was in High School I was in many of the top classes, I state that now only because being in the top classes, I should have behaved accordingly but I did not….In my senior year I was the ring leader in organizing a group of students who cheated on our AP history final exam…A nun was the teacher of the class and we all took advantage of her…My High School Principal was a De La Salle Christian Brother, who called me out about the cheating…I lied to his face and frankly he knew it….Brother Stephen was his name and he had every right to throw me out of High School….I embarrassed myself, led my classmates astray and took advantage of an elderly nun’s goodness and trust in us…In fact, he should have thrown me out of school!…..And I know he knew I was guilty…But Brother Stephen did not….I remember to this day him confronting our class, these were all the top students of our class by the way…Telling us how disappoint he was…And me sitting in the back of the class and smirking…He addressed my arrogance directly but again, he did not throw me out of school - And he should have…To this day I remember how Brother Stephen showed me mercy…And the mercy shown to me was underserved!…Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States famously wrote: “I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice”…..My High School Principal demonstrated a similar approach with me…And I am grateful to this day for it…Because I am the Prodigal son…And now that I have “returned home”… I must be careful that I never become the “elder brother” in the parable, who did not want to celebrate his younger brother's return because he felt his younger brother “did not deserve it’…Its because of the example of my High School Principal, that I will never become the “elder brother” in that famous parable…..Instead, I will show and have shown mercy to others in my life because mercy was shown to me
“My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.”
Once again today at Mass, Our Lord is trying to teach us the importance of mercy….How we all are in need of God’s mercy and therefore we must show mercy to others….More times then not, we must first experience forgiveness before we usually feel obligated to give it to others….This is why many of the saints who were the most radical followers of Jesus Christ were at one time the most egregious of sinners……When Jesus was resurrected from the dead, the first person who saw him was not Peter, James or John…It was Mary Magdalene, who we are told in Scripture was a public sinner…Jesus appeared to her before anyone else!…”So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little”….God walked among us for one reason and one reason only - To take away the sins of the world…St Faustina, the great 20th century saint and mystic told us this message from Christ himself, “He who knows how to forgive prepares for himself many graces from God"…..We don’t give mercy to people who “deserve it”…..Because if they “deserved it”, it would not be mercy
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