4th Sunday of Lent - C

Today, Jesus presents to us the most beautiful gospel scene  about the parable of the Prodigal son.

This parable  is very close to us. Why?

Probably, everybody has found this same situation in their life.

Very often, we have had a   time in our life when we have left someone who gives us everything..... We have left God.

And now we are like the young man.....calling..... "Father give me my share of my inheritance".

In our lives, everything that we have is from God.  Yet we take  everything for ourselves....which means our talents, gifts, money, fulfillment,...everything stops serving God and becomes self-serving and builds our selfishness. Everything that I have serves just me..and I start to think...God is not import_ant to me...but my needs, desires, and wants are import_ant..and I am attached to them.

Then I start to become a prodigal son. Now I am stripped of everything.

On the outside we are o.k. but on the inside our soul needs a true spiritual meal. The scraps are what the prodigal son has, just bits and pieces.

This situation applies to the moment in our life when a tragedy occurs ...a sudden accident...sickness  .......and no human consolation is enough.... we are then reminded of God. Then like a son we are thinking ..I am dying...and then I go to my Fathers house..

Do we need a tragedy to return to God?...Sometimes yes. It is a "wake up" call. Because sometimes we are blind and tragedy can bring us back to God. But usually God is waiting for us everyday without a tragedy, to come back to Him.

How do we do this? Like the youngest son we must first of all:

...  Acknowledge our sinfulness. We need to stop saying we don't need reconciliation..I am clean. We  must have faith that God is not a rare judge but a loving Father who forgives and forgets our sins.

.. We need to be contrite..to do better and change our lives. We must want to go to this spiritual feast...the sacrament of penance and embrace our Fathers arms and ask of Him.."please forgive me".

Or as the oldest son we must start to believe that everything that is from God is mine. "Son you are always with me and all that is mine is yours."

Very often we forget that everything we have is from God...our parents...our friends....our life...our every day existence.

Very often we complain like the eldest son...why someone else has more happiness...more friends...a better life.

Very often we do not believe that God gives us everything we need to live. This is why, for all of us ....the big sinners and the  little sinners...the most import_ant thing is FAITH ...that God  loves us and wants to forgive us our sins.

Today we have that chance to come back to God's home.

Fr. Thomas