The Outstretched Arms of the Father's Love - The Prodigal Son in Five Acts

As we approach the Great Fast or Lent, the Church is preparing us for our encounter with the Living God at Pascha/Easter. She is showing us though the Bible and her Liturgy what desire, true repentance, and merciful love looks like in action. This past Sunday in the Eastern Church, the Gospel was the very familiar parable of the Prodigal Son. It is only found in the Gospel of Luke and fits well into his “orderly account” (Luke 1:3) of the Good News of Jesus Christ. It this parable we see the full compassion and love that a father has for his repentant son. We are reminded that no matter how far we stay from God, he is always there to welcome us back with open arms and much rejoicing.

When we stand back and look at the Parable of the Prodigal Son, we see a five-act drama told by our Lord. It is full of interesting charters and events that allows the story to come alive before our very eyes. Now to observe the full picture, the full plot, we must move a bit back in Luke’s account to the beginning of Chapter 15. It is here that we witness Act 1 and it is of great importance, because it tells us why Jesus gives this parable. This is often forgotten when we look at the different parables that Jesus tells. Let us not make the mistake of failing to ask why has he told this story in the first place. Here in Act 1, we find the answer. We shall also see that the people present in Act 1 are back in Act 5 represented by a key actor in our drama.

Act 1 – “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable:” (Luke 15:1-3)

The great keepers of the Law, the Pharisees and scribes have been watching Jesus since he started his public ministry and they do not like what he is doing. Here they want to know why he eats with tax collectors and sinner. In their eyes Jesus has made himself and sinner by doing so. They would never sit down and engage with the kind of people that Jesus is daily.  To them this type of actions clearly breaks the keeping of the Law. Therefor Jesus tells this parable to explain why he is doing what he is doing. He is going to try and explain to them by telling this story, how God’s mercy and love are at work in the world. That they are truly being enacted by his own actions and teachings in a new and unseen way.

Act 2 – “There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his living between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country.” (Luke 15:11-13)

Jesus gives us the story of a man with two sons. The younger one demands his inheritance before his father dies. By doing this he is saying to his father, “you are already dead to me, now give me what is mine.” The father does what the son wishes, he gives him half of his living, or the text really says his “life”. As if the father gave himself to his son, half of his own life has been lost. The father is now incomplete without both of his sons with him. Then the younger son goes far away from his father. This “far country” represents the gulf that happens when we ourselves sin. We put a great distance between ourselves and God, between ourselves and others. Sin is a fracture between the relationships that God implemented when he created the world. He intended us all to be in communion with him and one another, but sin makes this impossible. In sinning we tell God as the younger son did his father, “you are dead to me, I do not need you in my life.”  This great distance is only retracted or overcome by true repentance; the conversion of one’s heart.

Act 3 – “And there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and joined himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” (Luke 15:13-19)

The younger son travels into this “far country” and wastes everything that he had been given by his father. We are told that his lose living, his reckless life of sin has led to this. The “life” he demanded from his father has ran out. It is interesting that we are told of the “citizen” who the son has “joined himself to”. The citizen then sends him to feed the pigs. What does this person represent? This is certainly sin itself. We see the son has given himself over to sin; his unfaithfulness to his father is now manifest by this new relationship. In the Fifth Act the “citizen” is named as the “harlot” by the older brother. Sin sends him into the pig pin, into a den of sin, and what does he find there? Nothing! He desires the pods the pigs eat, and needs someone to give them to him, but the end of verse 16 literally says, “there was no one to give.” That is what sin does to us, it takes us from God our Father, uses up the very “life” he has given us, and then leaves as all alone. In the end we have no one but ourselves and the darkness that surrounds us, all other relationships are broken, and our lives are in ruin. But then something happens to the younger son, we are told he “came to himself”. He got his right and fit mind back. Like many of us who fall away from God, he has that moment when we see our faults and return to the Father’s outreached arms; then latter we cannot explain why or what moved us to make the move toward repentance. All we can really say is “well that’s just how the power of the Holy Spirit and God’s mercy works within us.” The younger son then says to himself, “here I am starving but at my father’s table there is an abundance of bread”.  The words used here about the bread, are the same words that we hear used when Jesus multiplies the five loaves and feeds the five thousand. Meaning to us, that the bread that we receive from our Fathers table, the very Son himself, never runs out, there is always enough. Just as God’s mercy and love are inexcusable and boundless, so is the Bread of Life given to us. As the priest prays at every Divine Liturgy, “Broken and distributed is the Lamb of God-broken and not divided, always eaten and never consumed-but sanctifying those who partake.” One other thing in this Act that catches my eye is the word, “arise”, also from its root, we get the word “resurrection.” We could see this pointing to the fact that the son is about to move from his old life dead in sin and lost from his father, into a new life, alive and in communion with his father. First, he has to come up with a speech to give his father upon his return. We all know how this works, one must be prepared for these types of encounters. Like someone preparing to ask his future in-laws for their daughter’s hand in marriage, you do not approach them unprepared. We could give the same kind of example from the workplace, for instance when someone prepares to talk to her boss about a promotion or raise. She has thought about everything beforehand and is ready to present her case. We all realize, one should never enter those types of life changing meetings unprepared. Therefore, the younger son has a plan in mind before he heads back home. 

Act 4 – “And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.” (Luke 15:20-24)

With the return of the younger son we have one of the most moving passages in all of the scriptures. It reminds me very much of an equally moving scene in the Book of Genesis, where Joseph reveals himself to his bothers and there is much weeping and embracing between the reunited family. (Chapter 45) Here we see the same response. The father sees the son coming from afar and he knows already why he is coming, for there can only be one reason for doing so, to come home. The lost son is at last coming home to his father and he is full of deep-down compassion for him. The father is not angry or upset by these unexpected events, he is joyful and is ready to throw a party to celebrate. The father hears his son’s plea for forgiveness and to become one of his hired servants, but he says, “by no means!” You are my son! He tells his hired hands, get the best robe, dress him, put ring on his finger, and shoes on his feet. He is showing them all that his son is not a slave but a full member, a true son in his family. This is so much like our encounter with God in baptism or latter confession. We are given new robes of white to wear when we are baptized, we are clothed in Jesus himself. Then when we fall away into sin, like the son here, through repentance and confession, God the Father welcomes us back, he puts the robe of light back on us and there is much feasting over our return. The father’s response in the parable is equal to God’s response in the sacrament, “for my son was dead, and is alive again, he was lost, and is found.” The depths of our Lord’s love for his people is unimaginable. We can never depart so far from his love and mercy that the Father is not there again with opens arms, with compassion and understanding, always ready to receive us back. As restored and fully clothed sons and daughters of his family.

We as the Church must be very careful about the walls we put up between ourselves and people whom we might view as sinners. For one thing, we never know what God’s plans are. How he might intend to convert a person. Let us never put barriers or boundaries around the Holy Spirit by keeping certain people away from God, but let all people feel welcomed and loved. The Holy Sprint is like a highway that works through us on God’s behalf. We are to keep the power moving, not to put up road blocks in its way! God is the one who calls and changes people’s hearts, if we stop this from the start, then we become part of the problem, instead of part of the solution. Look at some of the lists that St. Paul gives in his letters, like Romans 1:28-32, can any of us stand and say, “not me, I have never done any of that Paul, I am perfect, yes without charge”. No, none of us can. We all equally need God’s love and forgiveness in our lives. As our Lord himself says, “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.” (Luke 6:37-38)

Act 5 – “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your life with harlots, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ And he said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.” (Luke 15:25-32)

Now it would be nice if Jesus would have stopped his parable with the Forth Act, but as we all know, great play’s always have Five Acts. We also must come back to those who we saw in Act 1 to complete our story. The older brother is unhappy and angry by what is going on at his father’s house. Just like the scribes and Pharisees who are upset by what Jesus is doing. The older brother, like some of the Jews at the time of Jesus, they want to keep the kingdom and family of God all for themselves. But the father and Jesus make it clear, this new thing that is happening, this grand celebration is for all people. The whole world, even sinners and tax collectors, the entire creation is invited into the new family of God redrawn around Jesus. The older brother like so many siblings, complains that he has done all the work and the wild younger brother gets the fatted calf. What about me he says, “look how perfect I have been in my service to you.” Sounds much like many families on any given night at the dinner table, “why does he have more than me”. But here the complaint goes at the heart of God’s plan, that it is indeed for all people. All races and nations are invited to the feast.  Yes, Jesus is telling us, the fatted calf is for everyone. And just who is the calf? It is the very best that the Father can give us, his own Son. We are all called to come and feast at his well-prepared table. The table of repentance and restoration. The table where broken lives are mended. The table where we see death become life. The table of resurrection and transformation. It is for all people the table of younger brother, surrounded by rejoicing and celebration, not of the older brother, filled with commendation and rejection.

As we get closer to the great season of repentance and fasting let us not lose sight of God’s limitless love and mercy that he has for all people. As we see in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, we have the assurance that through repentance, the Father will always welcome us back into his embrace and the Son will never reject his faithful brothers and sisters. Let us pray that we may be like the younger son and realize our true life is in the family of God and to always celebrate what he has accomplished for us, through his Son Jesus Christ. Let us be thankful that we are members of this family and are fully clothed as his sons and daughters. Ask the Father to extend his powerful hands, the very hands of the Holy Spirit, to help us grow in our faith and communion with him and one another. Throughout this season may God set our hearts ablaze to achieve the divine plan that he has for each of us.

Restoration and Discipleship - The Sending Forth of the Liturgy

Mark 5:1-20

At this point in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus makes a special trip across the sea. He does so to get to the country of the Gerasenes, after this encounter with the demoniac he immediately goes back the way he came. This lets us know that this was the only reason Jesus made this trip was to heal and restore this man. As if Jesus already knew full well what he would find on this journey. It reminds me of the many ways that Jesus comes to us, trying to get us to follow him in his ministry to restore lives and save souls. Calling us to both proclaim and live the Good News, that Jesus’ mercy and love are at work in our lives. Even flowing through us to all those that we meet. Jesus went to this far off country in order to change it, as he sends each of us off to change the world we live in.

Jesus steps out of the boat and sees this wild man living among the tombs, meaning he was living among the dead. Like so many today, alive but they have no life, they only pass time and offer nothing back to God or their fellow man. Jesus knows what state this man is in. He can plainly see through his crazy actions that he is tormented by many demons. And also, the demons know full well who Jesus is. They know he is the “Son of the most high God” and that he has power over the living and the dead. The demons are afraid because they know Jesus is about to act and restore the man that they have been tormenting. The tormentors are about to be tormented. We find here also a representation of a man who is bound by sin. Someone who is unable to function and contribute to society. Someone who is far away from God and his divine purposes for him. That is what sin does, it puts a void, a gulf, between ourselves and God, between us and others. God made us to be his image in the world, revealing his own love and mercy through our actions and when we fall short of that mark or goal, then the opposite actions leads us to sin.

Our Lord then asks this demoniac his name and he answers, “My name is Legion, for we are many”. Like the marching Roman Legion, he is full of an army of troops, all doing evil within, that is shown by his outward actions. Again, we see the underlying effect of sins here. The more we sin, the more that sin is attracted to us. Sin uses our bodies for its base of operations; meaning when we give sin the opportunity it will control us and grow its power within us. Jesus then heals the man and he sends the demons into a heard of swine at the request of the demons. The swine also reveals to us just how far this land and its people are away from God. As we all know, the keeping of swine was forbidden by the Law, because they are an unclean animal, but in this land profit and greed were king over the wishes and desires of the Covenant God. Sounds familiar? Yes, very much like many we meet today, profit at any cost. I am my own master and lord, what I do is my business alone.  

The next scene is the heart of this Gospel passage. Here we find the healed man, clothed and in his right mind, sitting at the feet of our Lord. This looks very much like he has been baptized. He is now clothed in his new garment of salvation and his mind had been illumined and opened by his encounter with the Living God. He is at last learning from the Master himself. Indeed, this is what happens at every baptism. Jesus then sends the man out to tell the Good News of what God has done for him. Let everyone know about the mercy that Jesus had upon you and that this mercy knows no bounds. He would rather stay with Jesus, but he did not permit it. So, the healed man listens to Jesus, and he went forth and told all the people he would meet about this Jesus and how he has transformed his life. That is how the Gospel, powered by the Spirit, works in action, as St. Paul says in Romans, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith.” (Rom 1:16) But some do not see it this way, they are ashamed of Jesus and drive him out of their lives, out of their lands. Like we see in this passage, the people tell Jesus, they beg him to depart from them, and that is just what he does. God does not zap people to do his will, everyone has been called to serve the Lord, but only the “many” answer the call and act upon it.

We always must keep in mind and heart the two-fold nature of the story of the Healed Demoniac is a illustration of the Christian life. It is the Church’s Liturgy in action within our world and daily life. We are sought out by Jesus to come to him for healing and restoration, then he sends us forth as his disciple. We come to the Lord’s feet at every Liturgy to hear the powerful word of God ever anew. We encounter him in sacrament and sacrifice, he then sends us out to spread the Good News. That is why both the Divine Liturgy and the Mass end with similar words, “go forth”. Liturgy is not for ourselves alone, but for the whole creation. Let us never forget that God always gives us the grace and power to be his people for his world, we just have to realize where we are not fulfilling our purpose in God’s plan and do something about.

Homily - Parable of the Soils

Here is my homily from Mass today.

Feast of St. Francis de Sales

2 Samuel 7:4-17

Mark 4:1-20

Throughout the Bible agricultural terms are used to help the listener or reader better understand what is being taught by the sacred text. Many times, we find Israel referred to as a vineyard, meaning something that needs planting and tending. Also, our Lord also uses many of these same images in his preaching. Today, we have him talking about the different soils that people would see around the country side in their daily life. He uses these to explain the different situations that people find themselves in as they journey through life. It works well because it is something tangible, we can easily understand what Jesus is talking about. We can put our hands on it, his meaning is not hidden from us. The Saint that we celebrate today, Francis de Sales, he was also very fond of using many illustrations from nature in his writings. He does so for the very same reasons, it helps to keep his mediations grounded in reality. Grounded to where people live and what type issues they encounter in their daily work and actions.

Today’s two readings work well together because they both share the idea of something being planted. Seeds in the Gospel and Israel herself in the first reading. The Lord says to David, “And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies.” (2 Sam 7:1-11) Here God himself is planting Israel, telling her that one day she will be firmly established as a faithful people and nothing will be able to uproot here out of the hand of God. Not sin or death, which is represented by these enemies that might afflict God's people. No, God himself will establish this dwelling place, a place of growth between God and man. Who is to do this, David or someone else? The Lord goes own to tell David, “When your days are fulfilled, and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established forever.” (2 Sam 7:12-16) God has promised David that his son, his seed, would be the new King and his kingdom would never end. This Son would build a house for God to dwell in among his people. We all know that this promise was fulfilled by God sending Jesus into the world, as the son of David, as the promised Messiah. Then God raises him up through the Resurrection and forms a perfect kingdom for all people to be planted in. This becomes the place where God’s people are formed, that they may become his fruitful sons and daughters.

Jesus in our Gospel today tells what is often called the “Parable of the Sower”, but I think a more appropriate name for it would be the “Parable of the Soils”. Because the four different types of soil and what they represent seem to be the focus of the parable. All of us have seen what Jesus is talking about here, there is no mystery to the soils that he is describing to us. Anyone can drive along a country road and see the picture that our Lord is painting. The path would be the road, were the seed falls but never grows, like people who hear the word of God, but they never put it into action in their lives, its simply them and that’s it. Next is that rocky ground we see right beside the road, these are people who hear the word and for a short time they act upon it, but then quickly fall away. They take no time to form the roots that the Christian life requires us to have. Roots like prayer and fasting, those practices that help us to cut out the old wood so that the new wood can grow and blossom forth abundant life. Then we look further from the road and we find the ditch, or the soil among the thorns. This soil is almost in the field but still full if weeds and briers. Here is where so many people are today, they hear God’s word, put it into action, but then are chocked by their worldly cares. Instead of making sacrifices for God and others, everything becomes about them, their wants and desires. This chokes the life of the Spirit that has been given to them and they just waste away. Also, thorns can represent the many bad influences that can be around us, bad friends are a good example, those people whose lifestyle falls short of a Christ centered life.  Ultimately, they are always pulling us away from God, pulling us in the wrong direction. Lastly, we look and see the field, where all the beautiful flowers and plants grow. This is where God wants us to be, in the good soil, producing much fruit for the kingdom of God. When we live here and act as Jesus’ faithful disciples, leading lives full of prayer and communion with God and one another. There is no question that we will become the people that God created us to be. We grow tall and mature in Christ, this causes other people to be attracted to us and they desire to spend time with us, thus we mutually grow together as God’s family. Just like a well planted and kept garden, each plant thrives off the others. Not by using one another for personal gain, but out of love for each other.

One quotation that I found from St. Francis de Sales works well with this parable. He says, “The bee collects honey from flowers in such a way as to do the least damage or destruction to them, and he leaves them whole, undamaged and fresh, just as he found them.” This to me is much like the family of God, the Church, working and praying together. As the bees help the flowers have life and grow by spreading pollen, so we share in our lives in communion with the Holy Spirit, not keeping its power for our own use, but through actions like prayer, sharing it with all those we meet. Just like the love of Jesus, yes, he died for me, but he also died for all. The is no “one” in the faith of Jesus Christ but always the many.

We should never lose sight of who is doing the planting and tending in our lives, is it us or God? What soil are we in? Are we then making the most of the place that God has put us, becoming fruitful a hundredfold? If not, then we must figure out why, pull up those weeds and grow fully for God alone.