The Return of the
Prodigal Son,
Rembrandt [Web
Gallery of Art]
Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa
Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)
Gospel Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)
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:
“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 property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered
all he had and took a journey into a far country, 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 hired 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.”’ 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.
“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 property with prostitutes, 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.’”
Seven or eight years ago while still in the Philippines I met a woman from a Western country who told me that the first lie her parents told her was that Santa Claus existed. Had I been alert enough at the time I would have asked her, So Jesus lied to us about the Prodigal Son, about the Good Samaritan? They never 'existed'.
As Pope Benedict XVI said in his Angelus Talk on today's gospel on 14 March 20: This passage of St Luke constitutes one of the peaks of spirituality and literature of all time. Indeed, what would our culture, art and more generally our civilization be without this revelation of a God the Father so full of mercy?
We would never have had Rembrandt's powerful and deeply moving painting above.
Here is the full text of Pope Bendict's talk that day with my emphases added. (I find it difficult to add emphases to anything by Pope Benedict since I find that his talks are so deep, so clear and so uplifting.)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
On this Fourth
Sunday of Lent, the Gospel of the father and the two
sons better known as the Parable of the ‘Prodigal Son’ (Lk 15:11-32) is
proclaimed. This passage of St Luke constitutes one of the peaks of
spirituality and literature of all time. Indeed, what would our culture, art
and more generally our civilization be without this revelation of a God the
Father so full of mercy? It never fails to move us and every time we
hear or read it, it can suggest to us ever new meanings. Above all,
this Gospel text has the power of speaking to us of God, of enabling us to know
his Face and, better still, his Heart. After Jesus has told us of the merciful
Father, things are no longer as they were before.
We now know God; he is our Father who out of love created us to be free and
endowed us with a conscience, who suffers when we get lost and rejoices when we
return. For this reason, our relationship with him is built up through
events, just as it happens for every child with his parents: at first he
depends on them, then he asserts his autonomy; and, in the end if he develops
well he reaches a mature relationship based on gratitude and authentic love.
In these stages we can also identify moments
along man's journey in his relationship with God. There can be a phase that
resembles childhood: religion prompted by need, by dependence. As man grows up
and becomes emancipated, he wants to liberate himself from this submission and
become free and adult, able to organize himself and make his own decisions,
even thinking he can do without God. Precisely this stage is delicate and can
lead to atheism, yet even this frequently conceals the need to discover God's
true Face. Fortunately for us, God never fails in his faithfulness and
even if we distance ourselves and get lost he continues to follow us with his
love, forgiving our errors and speaking to our conscience from within in order
to call us back to him.
In this parable the
sons behave in opposite ways: the younger son
leaves home and sinks ever lower whereas the elder son stays at home, but he
too has an immature relationship with the Father. In fact, when his brother
comes back, the elder brother does not rejoice like the Father; on the contrary
he becomes angry and refuses to enter the house. The two sons represent
two immature ways of relating to God: rebellion and childish obedience.
Both these forms are surmounted through the experience of mercy. Only
by experiencing forgiveness, by recognizing one is loved with a freely given
love a love greater than our wretchedness but also than our own merit do we at
last enter into a truly filial and free relationship with God.
Dear friends, let us meditate on this
parable. Let us compare ourselves to the two sons and, especially,
contemplate the Heart of the Father. Let us throw ourselves into his arms and
be regenerated by his merciful love. May the Virgin Mary, Mater
Misericordiae, help us to do this.
Some thoughts of my own
The Father has reserved a place for each of us at the celebration.
Act of Consecration of Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Solemnity of the
Annunciation, 25 March 2022
By Pope Francis with the
Bishops of the World
O Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, in this time of trial we
turn to you. As our Mother, you love us and know us: no concern of our
hearts is hidden from you. Mother of mercy, how often we have experienced
your watchful care and your peaceful presence! You never cease to guide
us to Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
Yet we have strayed from that path of peace. We have
forgotten the lesson learned from the tragedies of the last century, the
sacrifice of the millions who fell in two world wars. We have disregarded
the commitments we made as a community of nations. We have betrayed
peoples’ dreams of peace and the hopes of the young. We grew sick with
greed, we thought only of our own nations and their interests, we grew indifferent
and caught up in our selfish needs and concerns. We chose to ignore God,
to be satisfied with our illusions, to grow arrogant and aggressive, to
suppress innocent lives and to stockpile weapons. We stopped being our
neighbour’s keepers and stewards of our common home. We have ravaged the
garden of the earth with war and by our sins we have broken the heart of our
heavenly Father, who desires us to be brothers and sisters. We grew
indifferent to everyone and everything except ourselves. Now with shame
we cry out: Forgive us, Lord!
Holy Mother, amid the misery of our sinfulness, amid our
struggles and weaknesses, amid the mystery of iniquity that is evil and war,
you remind us that God never abandons us, but continues to look upon us with
love, ever ready to forgive us and raise us up to new life. He has given
you to us and made your Immaculate Heart a refuge for the Church and for all
humanity. By God’s gracious will, you are ever with us; even in the most
troubled moments of our history, you are there to guide us with tender love.
We now turn to you and knock at the door of your heart. We
are your beloved children. In every age you make yourself known to us,
calling us to conversion. At this dark hour, help us and grant us your
comfort. Say to us once more: “Am I not here, I who am your Mother?”
You are able to untie the knots of our hearts and of our times. In
you we place our trust. We are confident that, especially in moments of
trial, you will not be deaf to our supplication and will come to our aid.
That is what you did at Cana in Galilee, when you interceded
with Jesus and he worked the first of his signs. To preserve the joy of
the wedding feast, you said to him: “They have no wine” (Jn 2:3). Now, O
Mother, repeat those words and that prayer, for in our own day we have run out
of the wine of hope, joy has fled, fraternity has faded. We have
forgotten our humanity and squandered the gift of peace. We opened our
hearts to violence and destructiveness. How greatly we need your maternal
help!
Therefore, O Mother, hear our prayer.
Star of the Sea, do not let us be shipwrecked in the tempest of war.
Ark of the New Covenant, inspire projects and paths of reconciliation.
Queen of Heaven, restore God’s peace to the world.
Eliminate hatred and the thirst for revenge, and teach us forgiveness.
Free us from war, protect our world from the menace of nuclear weapons.
Queen of the Rosary, make us realize our need to pray and to love.
Queen of the Human Family, show people the path of fraternity.
Queen of Peace, obtain peace for our world.
O Mother, may your sorrowful plea stir our hardened hearts.
May the tears you shed for us make this valley parched by our hatred
blossom anew. Amid the thunder of weapons, may your prayer turn our
thoughts to peace. May your maternal touch soothe those who suffer and
flee from the rain of bombs. May your motherly embrace comfort those
forced to leave their homes and their native land. May your Sorrowful
Heart move us to compassion and inspire us to open our doors and to care for
our brothers and sisters who are injured and cast aside.
Holy Mother of God, as you stood beneath the cross, Jesus,
seeing the disciple at your side, said: “Behold your son” (Jn 19:26). In
this way he entrusted each of us to you. To the disciple, and to each of
us, he said: “Behold, your Mother” (v. 27). Mother Mary, we now desire to
welcome you into our lives and our history. At this hour, a weary and
distraught humanity stands with you beneath the cross, needing to entrust
itself to you and, through you, to consecrate itself to Christ. The
people of Ukraine and Russia, who venerate you with great love, now turn to
you, even as your heart beats with compassion for them and for all those peoples
decimated by war, hunger, injustice and poverty.
Therefore, Mother of God and our Mother, to your Immaculate
Heart we solemnly entrust and consecrate ourselves, the Church and all
humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine. Accept this act that we carry
out with confidence and love. Grant that war may end and peace spread
throughout the world. The “Fiat” that arose from your heart opened the
doors of history to the Prince of Peace. We trust that, through your
heart, peace will dawn once more. To you we consecrate the future of the
whole human family, the needs and expectations of every people, the anxieties
and hopes of the world.
Through your intercession, may God’s mercy be poured out on the earth and the gentle rhythm of peace return to mark our days. Our Lady of the “Fiat”, on whom the Holy Spirit descended, restore among us the harmony that comes from God. May you, our “living fountain of hope”, water the dryness of our hearts. In your womb Jesus took flesh; help us to foster the growth of communion. You once trod the streets of our world; lead us now on the paths of peace. Amen.
[Video of prayer here]
Traditional Latin Mass
