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Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2010 /  We are continuing our season for planting

This is Laetare Sunday ("Rejoice" Sunday). Rose vestments may be worn at Mass to signal the half-way point in Lent. Readings for Cycle A may be used at the celebration of the Second Scrutiny for the catechumens and candidates in RCIA.

March 14 Forth Sunday of Lent First Reading Joshua 5:9a, 10-12 Second Reading 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 Gospel Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

First Reading: Joshua 5:9a, 10-12

The earlier celebrations of the Passover anticipated the one recorded in this reading – the first one in the Promised Land after 40 years in the wilderness. The special manna, which fed them throughout their sojourn (Exodus 16, Deuteronomy 8:3), was no longer necessary. The fruitfulness of the land, which had been given to them by God, would satisfy and sustain them. This celebration prepared them for the struggle to take hold of the land, which they entered in the following chapters.

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

Paul proclaims that those who have joined with Christ live out a different pattern and development of life. The initiative of an invitation to this new life and providing the means to make it possible is from Christ. Reconciliation has the idea of being brought back to where we belong, not being raised up to something that is not connected to our created being. God meant for us to be brought into His presence through Christ. Some exegetes have identified Paul's source to be the last part of the Fourth Servant Song in Isaiah 53.

Another aspect of Paul's insistence on being "reconciled to God" is that Paul faced a local Church, which had need of reconciliation among its members. The divisions within the Corinthian community had produced a tension, which caused Paul to write to them (1 Corinthians 1:10-11). By uniting their focus on Christ, they would resolve the divisions among them. It is lesson that is still important in our local Churches today!

Relationships with others can change the way you see your own life.

Gospel: Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

This reading gives the last of three parables and the longest parable, as well as the most well-known. The parable of the prodigal son, named in a marginal note in a 16th-century English Bible, follows the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin. This parable reflects one of the major Lukan themes: God's mercy shown to a repentant sinner, even if the repentance isn't prefect. The "tax-collectors and sinners" represent marginal members of the religious community.

Their attraction to Jesus brought the condemnation of the religious leaders, the Pharisees and scribes, upon Jesus. They expected a good, observant Jew to condemn and separate himself from those who flagrantly broke the law. Without ever bending the moral and religious teachings of His Father, Jesus welcomed the company of those who would listen to Him.

These Jewish leaders "began to complain." It is the same verb used in the Old Testament to describe the actions of the people of Israel against Moses in the wilderness; for example, Exodus 15:24, 16:2, etc.

The younger son requested his inheritance before his father was dead. The practice was allowed, but Sirach 33:20-24 strongly warns against it. It was rash and foolish to do it. Believe me, my father would never have thought of doing it! He told me the same tale over and over again about a friend, whose only son sold everything and left him destitute. His father gave his son control over the business that he had built up. The father retired to Florida and expected monthly checks to live on. The checks stopped coming when the business was sold. In this parable, it was a sign of the unconditional love of the father to acquiesce to the request of his younger son. He didn't even stop his younger son from leaving, probably knowing very well what awaited him "out there."

The son found no love or mercy. He "squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation," and it was gone! The author does not tell us what he did. The elder son, without talking to his younger brother, immediately judged him and said that he "swallowed up your property with prostitutes." The younger son experienced the loss of everything, with no certainty of gaining anything back, when he decided to return to his father. Yet, it was the father who first saw him returning and refused to listen to his rehearsed excuse. It wasn't a perfect contrition. It didn't have to be. The love of his father was not earned. He couldn't do enough to deserve it, as the father had to point out to his elder son.

The second part of the parable, the one in which the Father addresses his elder son, is often overlooked. It directs the lesson of the parable toward the critic of such unmerited love. It is a good lesson for our observance of Lent, as we review our attitude toward "those others," whoever they may be in our own life.

In recent years, this parable has also been called the Parable of the Loving Father. Some time ago, a priest classmate, who worked with abused people, reminded me that the Sunday assembly had a variety of people in it. Not everyone had the upbringing and support we received through our childhood. He cautioned me that even the word "Father" for God could trigger a very adverse response, if we equated the image of our own parents with that understanding of God. The challenge in preaching was to help people see that our God is filled with mercy and love, even if they had never felt that from anyone else before. Now, there is a challenge for a preacher!

I found that telling stories from my own life, rather than generalizing about what I thought everyone else must have had, avoided the pitfalls of imposing images that were not in their experience. Actually, the imperfections of my life were more teachable than my successes! I found a way to connect! When we speak from among those needing God's mercy, rather than as God Himself, there are more people in earshot. Jesus told stories that invited everyone to draw near. I found that I had to do the same.

Fr. Richard C. Macey is pastor of Our Lady of the Woods Parish, Woodhaven.