The Gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Lent is a familiar one to most of us, the parable of the Prodigal Son. Father Vince started out asking us if we feel like rejoicing and a few hands went up. He said you would all be rejoicing by the end of the homily. Father also asked if we know what the word prodigal meant and gave us the definition of reckless, extravagant, and wasteful. This is something that we can all identify with at some time in our own lives.
The prodigal son fit this
description and his journey was similar to Jesus' temptation in the desert. Jesus went off away from everyone in
the barren desert and the son went off away from his family to a foreign land
where there was nothing for him.
Jesus was hungry and was tempted by the devil to turn bread into stone,
but Jesus tells him that the word of God is what we live on. The son is tempted to eat the pods,
which are the husks that had little nutritional value, when he realized that he
could really live by going back to his father. Jesus is tempted by the devil to
be given rule over all the kingdoms of the world by worshiping him, but Jesus
told him in humility that you should only worship the Lord alone. The son in humility comes back
asks the father to treat him as a hired son, realizing his sin against the father.
The father shows his love for the son by welcoming him back,
clothing him with a fine robe, rings for this fingers, sandals, and celebrating
with a feast. The father is
rejoicing because his son was lost and it now found, a reason to rejoice! The
father’s response to the son is an analogy to show God’s love for us, and that
he is willing to welcome us back no matter what we’ve done. The devil does not want us to hear this
message. He wants to separate us away from God and think that we are not worthy
of God’s love, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. The devil of course doesn’t want us to
know the truth, but the truth is that God always loves us and is willing to
welcome us back. This is a
reason to rejoice!
Father Vince asked again, how many people have a reason to
rejoice? Everyone’s hands shot
up. Come and feel the reason
to rejoice by receiving the sacrament of reconciliation. There are plenty of
opportunities prior to Easter to receive the sacrament and rejoice! May God bless each and every one of
you.
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