Saturday of the Second Week of Lent
A GOD PRODIGAL IN HIS MERCY
When we forgive those who have hurt us, often some scars remain and take a long time to heal. Even if we have not personally suffered from a crime, we cry for blood and vengeance in the name of society. And we don’t treat a released prisoner or a sinner, who has made up for his failure, as if he had done no wrong. But God does. He remains faithful to the love once given. He comes forward both to welcome the returning sinner and to invite the brother or sister who has a hard time to welcome his lost brother or sister to share in the joy of forgiveness and his return.
Reading 1: Micah 7:14-17
Uniquely yours in a grove of trees,
centered in lotus land.
Let them graze in lush Bashan
as in the old days in green Gilead.
Reproduce the miracle-wonders
of our exodus from Egypt.
And the godless nations: Put them in their place—
humiliated in their arrogance, speechless and clueless.
Make them slink like snakes, crawl like cockroaches,
come out of their holes from under their rocks
And face our God.
Fill them with holy fear and trembling.
Where is the god who can compare with you—
wiping the slate clean of guilt,
Turning a blind eye, a deaf ear,
to the past sins of your purged and precious people?
You don’t nurse your anger and don’t stay angry long,
for mercy is your specialty. That’s what you love most.
And compassion is on its way to us.
You’ll stamp out our wrongdoing.
You’ll sink our sins
to the bottom of the ocean.
You’ll stay true to your word to Father Jacob
and continue the compassion you showed Grandfather Abraham—
Everything you promised our ancestors
from a long time ago.
Gospel: Luke 15:1-3
Prayer
Faithful Father, you are our God
of grace, mercy and forgiveness.
When mercy and pardon
sound paternalistic to modern ears,
make us realize, Lord,
that you challenge us to face ourselves
and to become new people,
responsible for the destiny of ourselves
and for the happiness of others.
Make us responsive to your love
through Christ Jesus, our Lord.
Reflection:
11 March 2023
Luke 15:1-3,11-32
Called to be children, not slaves
Judaism taught that God granted his pardon to those who had sincerely repented and expressed their desire to be converted through fasting, penance, torn clothes and prostrations. But the image of God brought to light by Jesus was very different – a God who sets a banquet for those who do not deserve it and invites sinners to his feast without checking if they are repentant. He embraces them without asking any questions.
What prompted the younger son’s return to the father was not repentance but hunger. He tried to survive even by eating what the pigs ate. He would not have returned if anyone had offered him food. Fear of death brings him back. He is willing to be a servant in his father’s house, provided he has food to eat! He might leave again if he identifies a possibility of surviving elsewhere.
But the father does not care whether the son is repentant. He embraces him. Through the parable, Jesus reveals the true face of God, the Father, who loves everyone, always and without conditions. The young boy represents many youngsters of our times. They believe they have no freedom in their own house in the presence of their parents. Many people leave the Church today because the Church has too many rules to follow, and they feel that there is no freedom.
The elder brother follows all the commandments of the father. He attempts to remind the father: “I have not transgressed any command; I have always served you faithfully….” He then makes his complaints to the father, “… but when your son returns….” He refuses to admit that this “son of his father” is also his younger brother! He is the perfect portrait of the scrupulously law-abiding Pharisees, who would say to the Lord in the temple: “I am not like other people, grasping crooked or adulterous. I fast twice a week and give the tenth of all my income” (Lk 18:11-12).
Does he sound familiar? We attend the Sunday Mass without fail, pray the novenas and litanies faithfully, and observe Lent with utmost care. But we refuse to forgive and love that brother or sister who wronged us! Were all these done to obtain some favours from God? Do we get annoyed when people with “lesser” qualifications or so-called “bad reputations” are accepted and recognised in our communities? The eldest son would still go in to attend the banquet for ‘his brother’ because he wants to obey all the commands of the father, but with a grumbling heart. Yet the Father patiently awaits the return of his two sons to celebrate life together.
Are we joining the banquet of the Father because we want to fulfil all the rules and regulations of the Church, but with anger and hatred towards our brethren?