The story of the “Merciful Father” in Luke 15 is the climax of a series of parables on Losing and Finding. Here, in addition to the theme of finding what was lost, Jesus includes a challenge to those who are offended at the way he deals with sinners. In the fourth Sunday of Lent, the theme of the parable is presented to us as the theological motivation for repentance. We do not repent because something bad might happen to us, as one might understand from the gospel of the third Sunday; we repent because it is better to be with the Father than away from Him.
Relevant Articles
- To Seek What Was Lost (Luke 15:1-32)
- The Parables of the Lost and Found in the Lectionary
- Lost and Found
Guide to the Reading of the Text
1. Note that the three parables narrated in Luke 15 is a response to those who are offended at Jesus’ hobnobbing with sinners.
2. Each of the parables lay stress on the joy of finding what was lost. In Matthew 18:12-14, there is a parallel to Luke 15:3-7. Compare how the Q passage is used in both Matthew and Luke. Is there a difference in the way it is used?
3. The last parable in the series builds up on the theme of joy at finding what was lost. What other themes are included in the last parable about the lost son?
A Review of the Readings
Joshua 5:9.10-12 narrates how at Gilgal, the Israelites celebrated Passover for the first time in the Promised Land. They have entered the land passing through the parted waters of the Jordan, striking terror on their neighbors (v.1), and have entered the covenant with Abraham through the rite of circumcision (vv. 2-8). It is now as men freed from the house of slavery that is Egypt that they celebrate the Passover, eating the produce of the land.
This selection from Joshua emphasizes the reproach of the Egyptians that God has taken away. Although the phrase is a popular etymology for the place name Gilgal (gallothi, “I have taken away”), it can also refer to the fact that the Israelites are no longer slaves as they were in Egypt, but freed men with their own land and a place they can call their own. This can be tied up with the gospel reading about the father who takes away the shame of his returning son by restoring him to his place in the household. The father refuses to listen to his son who had imposed upon himself the punishment of being treated as a slave. Instead, in his generosity and kindness, the father clothes the son in his own clothes, gives him shoes and the signet ring that is used for official transactions. And to top all this, the father even celebrates the son’s return with a feast made sumptuous by the family’s fattened calf.
The responsorial psalm is an invitation to “taste and see how the Lord is good”. It is the Lord who gives his people land and feeds them from the wealth of his generous lovingkindness. Seen in the light of the gospel, the psalm becomes an invitation to repentance and to return to the God who forgives and shows His mercy.
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 is Paul’s invitation to reconciliation. The Corinthians are invited to be reconciled to God through Paul who has been made an ambassador of reconciliation. More about this here.
Suggestions for the Lesson
This Sunday, the liturgy’s stress is on reconciliation and the mercy of God. It would be a nice occassion for reviewing what the Catechism says about the sacrament of penance of reconciliation and to encourage the faithful to benefit from it especially during the time of Lent.
1. In the second reading, Paul stresses to the Corinthians how God’s act of reconciling the world to himself through his Son is made present through the Church.
2. Christ applies the fruits of the act by which He reconciled mankind with God in the work of His Body, the Church. Through the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, Christ continues to pardon sinners.
3. The parable of the Forgiving Father tells us, in very stark images, how God restores the sinner — self-alienated by his act of moving away — to himself.
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