The Prodigal Sons
In St. Luke’s account of the Gospel (15:11-32), we read the beloved parable of the Prodigal Son. The parable Christ tells us is rich in its lessons for us, covering several important Christian themes. Central among these is “embracing the penitent person.” The prodigal son, who having squandered his father’s wealth on a life of decadence undergoes a change of heart, returning humbly to his father. Without mention of his son’s sins, the father embraces his son who has returned from the wastes. Such is a story congruent with our relationship to our Heavenly Father.
Men and women plummet below the waves of sin every day. Often, we stand ready to embrace their repentant return—and we should. Forgiveness is at the core of the Good News (Luke 24:47) and the ability to forgive is paramount to our Christian life. Still, when we consider this parable, we must not simply put ourselves in the position of the one who forgives and receives the repentant sinner; we must look at the prodigal son, and see ourselves.
We are all prodigal sons. As the prodigal son for the Bible’s parable squanders his inheritance, so do we each and every moment we neglect the gift of life that God has given us. Whenever we engage in sin, we engage in the same spirit that led to frivolity of prodigal son.
Like the younger son who found famine at the end of his escapes, we find emptiness in the aftermath of our sins. And like the son who scrapped his way to survive, our pride keeps us from admitting our faults, until we too eat the scraps that the swine partake.
Then when we are lowest, there is a moment of clarity, and we recognize, we are going nowhere. The only option is to go where it is safe—the embrace of our true Father. This embrace of God, our Heavenly Father, is everything we strive for in the Christian life. Let us pay close attention to the quality that was needed to return to the Father: humility.
Without humility, we will continue walking into self-destruction. Humility is the most important quality one can attain in this life. Humility weakens the ego, and as such, weakens the force carried by sin. God’s undying love is this simple humility we see in the condescension of the Christ, who being the Highest, became the lowest.
Finding this true humility within ourselves is not an easy undertaking.
There was an outlaw who robbed a hard-working family as a quick means to acquire wealth. Guilt followed him, laying in wait at the back of his mind. Shortly thereafter, the outlaw confessed a change of heart and many rejoiced. But when the family asked for their money back, the robber said, “I have repented, isn’t that enough?” As it turns out, the robber had no intention of giving back what he had stolen, and left the area not long after. What the robber wanted was to be free from guilt; he had no desire to be reconciled. As such, his pseudo-repentance was completely selfish. Guilt is a heavy weight but humility is freedom. Had the robber acquired a humble heart, he would have returned what he had stolen from the hard-working family.
True repentance requires of us the mind that inspired the prodigal son’s return to righteousness. Like the outlaw, we must not let ourselves be deceived. We must free ourselves of pride, remaining mindful of the ultimate end of this life’s journey, the union with our Heavenly Father. Let us always look in the mirror and gaze upon the face of the prodigal son, so that we may acquire the quality of humility and let ourselves strive for God’s embrace.
source: http://www.socdigest.org/articles/06jul05.html
Comments