Our readings today are on the prodigal son
The thing that struck me most in reading the parable again was the three people involved.
The first of the three character in the is the Father. The father is open and forgiving. Just like God, he lets us set our own path. There is a point in a parent’s life when the parent has to let go and let his children make their own mistakes. This is hard for a human parent, so it must be hard for God. As any good parent, the father teaches us the basics of right or wrong. However, when we turn away he is always expecting us and most importantly waiting for us to return to him.
The prodigal son himself went down the wrong path. He could never get back the time or fortune he wasted. Ebenezer Scrooge, the character in the Dickens novel, “A Christmas Carol” wasted time in worldly pursuits. We can never go back but how many times do we relive in our minds and hearts our past mistakes or judgement errors. When the son came home the father gave him a ring and a robe. He was not giving the son another inheritance. He was giving him authority as his son or daughter. When a Pope dies, his ring is crushed. It goes back to the time when a wax seal and a ring indentation gave authority to a document.
The good son also wasted time. He says that he always did what the father had asked but he was jealous of his brother because of the celebration of the father for the son that returned. He should have been just as happy that his brother returned. This only a story but a small lingering question is why did he not try to talk his brother out of going off in the first place. Unlike the father the good son was judgemental and did not forget what his brother did. He should have been there with the father welcoming his brother
The things that I take away from the parable are these:
1] I see all the wasted moments of my life. Time can never be recouped. We can never go back and here is the secret. We can only go forward. God does not remembers our sins. He is just happy and joyous in heaven when we repent.
2] The good things of life are not the amount of money we spend or make. It is how we spend time with friends, relatives and perfect strangers.Wednesday, our parish Knights of Columbus and Columbiettes cooked a meal for the homeless. The menu was chicken thighs, mashed potatoes, salad and deserts. We all did our share and some of us served.
3] God’s door is always open. He expects us to come to him. There is no time too late and He is waiting for us. We need to remember we are all God’s children (Romans 8) .
4] Unlike the “good”son we should look at others as God’s children also. The “good” son thought his reward should have been now and that his brother should be his servant because the prodigal had given up his inheritance. He thought that he was superior or better than his brother.
I ride the bus three days a week. It is hard not to be judgemental of some of the passengers. Most of the people are hard-working and really good honest people and enjoy them all. One of the regulars I met was unfriendly and seemed surly to me. I was talking to another rider later and he told me the reason the person acted the way he did is that he was deaf. I was so wrong. I had no reason to judge the other person.
5]We can do nothing about the past. We live in the present. Live the present and the future will be a blessing to you.
God Bless
Bob Burford
Readings : Micah 7:14-15,18-20; Psalm 103: 1-2, 3-4, 9-10,11-12; Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32
