Tag: Prodigal Son

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Extravagant Mercy

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Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Mass Readings

First Reading: Amos 8:4-7
Responsorial: Psalm 113:1-2, 4-8
Second Reading: 1 Timothy 2:1-8
Gospel: Luke 16:1-13

You can’t serve both God and mammon!

My brothers and sisters, in today’s readings we hear a little bit of a confusing story about the dishonest steward. It’s a little confusing because at the end of the Gospel, it sounds like Jesus is commending the steward’s craftiness. Can that really be the case? First, let’s set the scene.

Mammon isn’t just money. It refers to worldly wealth and perhaps even a worldly attitude that goes along with everything this world promises us. With that understanding, let’s jump into to the readings.

In the Gospel the steward, who is basically the manager responsible for his employer’s property and staff has been careless with his employer’s property. The employer learns that the steward has been careless. He is accused of squandering property. His employer tells him that he is going to be let go, but first he must make an accounting of everything he has done.

The steward is a little panicked. He has no idea what he is going to do once he is unemployed. So, he conceives a plan. He figures that if he generous with his employer’s debtors, they will help him once he is unemployed. He summons the debtors and reviews their debts, then has them write promissory notes for less that the amount. Whether he pays part of the debts is not known, but he eases their debt-burdens.

Now when his employer learns what he has done, he praises the steward for his prudence. It almost sounds like Jesus is praising the steward for his shrewdness. How can this be?

Well, here’s the second point. Before Jesus tells this parable, he had just finished telling the crowd the parable of the lost son. This isn’t a second day. This is a continuation of the readings from last week. Now Jesus is offering this parable. What did we learn from last week’s readings? Jesus tells us about the enormous generosity of the Father’s mercy. But at the same time he warns us that he has not come to save the righteous – those who think themselves better than everyone else.

In contrast, Jesus tells us about this prudent steward – a limited, self-motivated example of mercy. In other words, seeing these two parables side by side, this parable is about mercy with strings attached. I’ll forgive you if you agree to do the dishes for a month; or I’ll forgive you if you agree to clean out the gutters for me. This is what the world tells us we should do, right? We should adopt an attitude the espouses, “what’s in it for me?” This is the approach to life that world tells us will lead to happiness, wealth and success.

But is this a sustainable way of living our lives? After a while, managing all those strings becomes exhausting. We can’t serve both our own self-interest and be in right relation with those around us. You cannot serve both God and mammon. In this situation, you only love the one and come to become frustrated with the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.

No, when we extend forgiveness, we should extend it like God. We should offer forgiveness totally and with no strings attached. Why? Well, first, because that is how we wish to be treated by other people. Second, that’s how we wish to be treated by God. We forgive extravagantly so that when we face our judgment, we can say we extended great mercy, and we hope to receive such extravagant mercy too. So, while we can live in this world, we should try not to be of this world – totally focused on ourselves and showing no compassion or mercy toward those around us or holding people in check with strings tied to our mercy and love and forgiveness.

Homework! After being nourished at the table of God’s Word and the Eucharist, I encourage you to reflect on the following questions this week.

  1. First, have you ever felt unworthy of God’s mercy?
  2. Second, reflecting on your relationships, can you forgive especially when the other person doesn’t deserve mercy?

I think our homework today will help us live the mercy and love of Jesus Christ in our lives. Do you got it? Do you get it? Good! May almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! +Amen!

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Fourth Sunday of Lent: The Prodigal Son

picture of a boy, back to us, with a backpack slung over his shoulder walking down a deserted street

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Readings
First Reading: Joshua 5:9A, 10-12
Psalm: Psalm 34: 2-7
Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Gospel: Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

In today’s Gospel, Luke 15:1-3 and verses 11-32, we hear that all-familiar story about the Prodigal Son. In this story, the younger son wants his share of the estate now, so he asks his father to give it to him. His father agrees and the son leaves for another country and lives an indulgent life. He’s the life of the party – until the money runs out. Of course, when it rains, it pours, so the money doesn’t just run out. No! A famine strikes. Now this poor boy has no money and no food and so he goes to work on a farm. He realizes that even the pigs live better than him, so he decides to go home. His father’s servants are treated better than this, so he hopes to live and work on this father’s place. But when his father sees him in the distance, what does he do? He runs into the field and gives him a deep bearhug! And he orders the servants to take care of son and prepare a huge party in his honor.

Now, when the older brother hears what is going on, he is ticked off! Here he’s been, the whole time, doing what he’s supposed to, working his butt off and never once has his father let him have a party! But his brother squanders his share of the wealth and he’s treated like a hero. And the father says, “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.”
This is one of my favorite stories. That image of the father running into the field to meet his son who has returned home is a powerful image. Really, it’s a wonderful story that reminds us, as Bishop Robert Barron says, that the Bible is not the story of our quest for God. It’s about God’s passionate, relentless quest for us.

But there’s another dimension to this story though that I learned from Fr. Laurence Freeman, a Benedictine monk, that I think we need to pay attention to. Why is it that we become so angry when we see someone do something they shouldn’t do? Maybe it’s because we see a little bit of ourselves – or at least the something we might have done – in the person who did something wrong.

This story about these two brothers and the father is about us. It’s about both sides of our ego. One side wants to run after pleasure – think the mid-life crisis complete with new model car and partner. The other side takes the moral high ground and feels justified in condemnation.

Isn’t it also interesting how both brothers misunderstand the father’s reaction? The younger son expects his father to be angry and indignant and he’s hoping that he’ll be allowed to work as one of the slaves. The older brother is shocked that his father is so happy and welcoming.

In the symbolism of the father’s joy, a lack of self-importance, and the exuberance of his love we see our true self – our true nature which underpins all moral reasoning. Without knowledge of the essential truth of the unconditional nature of love, the ego will prevail. So how do we keep both sides of our ego in check? We pray. We experience the community of His church. Each time we pray, we are like the prodigal returning home to be embraced.

So, don’t condemn the wrongdoer once he or she has begun to change. We need to encourage rehabilitation by affirmation, forgiveness, and acceptance. Just as the father in the Gospel celebrates the return, we need to celebrate when those who do wrong in our lives come back. We need to do unto others as we would have them do us. Jesus tells us that just as he loves us, we need to love one another.

Homework! Lent is a time of simplification and strengthening our discipline where it is weak. After being nourished by the Word of God proclaimed and, in the Eucharist, please meditate on these two questions:

  1. Consider each of the three characters in the Gospel: the father, the Prodigal Son and the indignant son. Which one would you rather be?
  2. Considering how you answered the first question, how do you treat other people? Do you respond more like the Prodigal Son, the indignant son or the father?

I think by doing our homework we might identify areas in our life where we need to grow in faith, hope and love. Do you got it? Are you going to do it? Well good! May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. +Amen!

Here’s a great video song from Jason Michael Carroll that captures the spirit of today’s Gospel: