The Prodigal Son

By Deacon Bob Cropp

It must be great to have a Dad like that who is so forgiving, so forgiving and so generous! But generosity isn't the point of this parable, is it? The point is forgiveness. Think of what the prodigal son has done. He demands his inheritance and then betrays his Father's love by leaving with the money. This early inheritance was a practice in the Israel of Jesus' time. The idea was that the parent would then retire and the son would support the parents. To get the inheritance the Father would have to sell livestock and land. This is the land he received from his own Father. His family for many generations had lived on this land and cared for it. They were part of the land and the land was part of them. The Father wasn't just giving money to the son; he was giving part of himself; he was giving up his ‘social security'; he was tearing it out of his own family.
The Father would do it out of Love. He couldn't see his son unhappy. It would deeply grieve him that his son would have to leave the family to seek happiness but he would doubt his own judgment and give the benefit of the doubt to his son. Perhaps they were having trouble talking to one another. Perhaps the son was hanging out with some friends the family didn't like. The father would grieve when his son left but he would not stop the son from leaving when he was so unhappy.
The son comes to his senses after he has lost everything. Finally he returns. He doesn't ask for anything except to be a servant of his father. The Father has lived with this profound hurt for many years but it didn't kill his ability to forgive. He welcomes his son back with unconditional love.
The story doesn't end here. Jesus wants to teach us more. The sin of the son didn't just affect the son. It wasn't even just about how it hurts the father. Jesus wants to teach us that sin hurts the whole family, the whole community. The cliché that what I do is my own business isn't true. The older brother is jealous and filled with rage. I'm sure the Mother is heartbroken. The servants of the household are most likely angry, too. After all, they are loyal to the family and work hard to be a part of this community. They didn't personally suffer a loss of money or property but the farm was cut in half and some may have lost their jobs. For them the hurt was a rupture of their lives. The only way to make things right, to make things whole is through forgiveness. So the Father pleads with the older son to forgive and not just forgive but to celebrate and rejoice, to reconcile. If the older son doesn't forgive, hate will destroy him. The older son makes a wrong judgment. He fails to see the difference between the wrong the brother has done and the need to forgive his brother. We can and should judge evil deeds but we cannot judge persons as evil. The point here is that the family can be healed. Through true forgiveness the family can be reconciled; it can be made clean and fresh, healthy and whole. Unfortunately this isn't a fairy tale. Jesus deals in real life and there is no indication that the other son ever forgives. The older son has chosen to live a hell on earth.
Today we still live in families, circles of friends and larger communities like this parish. Many of us have experienced our families and communities being torn apart for various reasons. Not all of these ruptures have been as dramatic as the story of the prodigal son. Some have long-festering wounds. We may even know someone who was hurt by a person of authority in the Church and has broken that relationship as a result. But that doesn't mean it's all right to carry a grudge. If we harbor anger and resentment it will destroy us. Healing must start someplace and I suggest it can start with us. It can start with you and me. We must reach out to those who are hurting. We need to see the good that God has placed in each one of us. We need to embrace that good and help it grow. We can only do that with God's grace, His supernatural help. But if we are to be truly happy, we need to start now.
We need to forgive and love and do it unconditionally.