"Your brother was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost, but now he has been found. “ - Luke 15:1-32
23RD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
First Reading: Exodus 32, 7-11. 13-14 | Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 50, 3-4. 12-13. 17 at 19
Second Reading: 1 Timothy 1, 12-17 | Gospel : Luke 15, 1-32
Reflection:
The gospel tells us today about the prodigal son who went to a distant country with all the wealth he inherited from his father. There, he spent everything and came home very poor with nothing in his pocket. When we sin, the same is true for us, brothers and sisters. We squander blessings from God when we use them whenever and however we want, with no regard for His will and the good of others. We break our relationship with Him when we sin and go far from God. But what did the father do in the parable? He eagerly waited for the prodigal son and embraced him with open arms. We didn’t hear a single word of blame or anger from the father. Instead, he quickly dressed him in the finest robe and asked him to put on sandals and a ring. He restored his son to his original dignity and position because he returned with a contrite heart. The father in the parable is an image of our Father in heaven. In the same way, when we go back to God from a life of sin, He restores us to our dignity. Sin taints the image of God in us, but with the sacrament of confession, we are restored to God with no other condition but to return to God and to love Him again.
It is not difficult to love God and to return to God. The lies of the world, the devil, and the flesh, which we believe, are what separates us from God. The prodigal son thought he would happy away from his father, if he could do what he desired. However, it didn’t make him happy. Sin robs us of our relationship with God and true happiness. It makes various promises of wealth and pleasure, but they are empty. Moreover, it makes us even poorer in material things, especially in the spiritual sense. Sin is expensive. Faith is free. God asks us, who is the father in the story, to return to Him and love Him as our Father. He will welcome us with a feast however much we have hurt him. He cannot deny us, His children, even if we have rejected Him countless times.
Amen. +
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Marga de Jesus, OLA Social Communications Ministry
