Word of Life September 2011

"It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.” (Luke 15:32)

This passage is found at the end of the parable of The Prodigal Son, which you have certainly heard of. Jesus told this parable to His disciples to show us the greatness of God's mercy.

It concludes an entire chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke, where Jesus narrates two other parables with the same theme.

Do you recall the episode of the lost sheep where the owner, in order to search for it, left the other ninety-nine sheep in the desert ?

And remember the story of the lost drachma and the joy of the woman who, having found it, calls her friends and neighbours together, so that they may rejoice with her?

"It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.” (Luke 15:32)

This is an invitation which God offers to you, and to all those who believe, to rejoice with Him, to celebrate and share His joy over the return of the sinner who was first lost and then found again.

The father spoke these words to his elder son who had lived with him all his life, but who upon returning home from a hard day's work, refuses to enter his house where they were celebrating the return of his brother who had left them to squander his inheritance.

The father reaches out to his faithful son, in the same way that he went out towards his lost son, and tries to convince him. But the contrast between the father's sentiments and those of his elder son could not be greater:

on one side, the father was full of immeasurable love and great joy which he wanted everyone to share;

and on the other, the son showed only contempt and jealousy for his brother whom he no longer recognizes as such. Referring to him, in fact, he says: "This son of yours who has devoured all your possessions"

The love of the father and his joy at the return of his prodigal son serve to underline even more the ill feelings harboured by the other son who had remained with his father.

These ill feelings, however, reveal a cold and, one could say, false relationship between him and the father. We can deduce from here that to this son, it is work and the fulfilment of his obligations which matter most; he does not love his father as a son should. Rather, we feel that he obeys his father as a servant would obey his master.

"It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.” (Luke 15:32)

With these words, Jesus points out a danger that you could also fall into: that of behaving as an upright person, living a life based on the search for your own perfection, and judging others whom you think are not as good

As a matter of fact, if you are "attached" to perfection, if you are building yourself up without God, and filled with your own self, you are puffed up with self-admiration.

You act like the son who remained at home, who counts his merits before his father: "...these many years I have served you, and I have never disobeyed your command "

"It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.” (Luke 15:32)

With these Jesus goes against the Jewish attitude that man’s relationship with God lay in fulfilling the Law in order to be pleasing to God. But even Jewish tradition is aware that it’s not enough to observe the commandments.

In this parable, Jesus reveals God as Love himself who takes the first step towards man, without taking into account whether he deserves it or not, and wants man to open up to Him in order to establish an authentic communion of life.

Naturally, as you may understand, the greatest obstacle to God who is Love is precisely the kind of life led by the Pharisees, or those who accumulate actions and projects, because God is asking instead for their heart.

"It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.” (Luke 15:32)

With these words, Jesus invites us to show the same boundless love that the Father has towards the sinner. Jesus calls us not to judge, according to our own measure, the love that the Father has for every man.

In inviting his elder son to share his joy over his long-lost son, the Father also asks us for a change of mentality:

practically, we should welcome as brothers and sisters, those people whom we nurture with only sentiments of scorn and superiority.

This will bring about a true conversion because it will purify us of our conviction that we are "better", save us from religious intolerance, and help us welcome the salvation obtained by Jesus for us as a pure gift of God's love.

"It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.” (Luke 15:32) "It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.” (Luke 15:32) Text by : Chiara Lubich