From Fr. Jude Botelho:
In today's second reading Paul reminds the Corinthians that we are not called to be God's slaves but His children. All people are invited to be God's children. We are called to be a new creation, for anyone in Christ is a new creation. Paul sums up Christ's mission as follows: to reconcile men with his Father and to make them a new creation. Reconciliation with God and with one another is especially needed in the world today with its many divisions. There can be no peace without repentance and reconciliation.
Today's gospel story of the prodigal son is one of the most familiar and moving portrayals of God's loving compassion for his people. The prodigal son is not a model for conversion. Rather the emphasis is on the mercy of the father and the joy of finding the sinner again. Through this story Jesus was giving practical expression to the Father's invitation to all his children. The story is realistic and full of insights.
During the forty years Israel spent in the desert, their existence depended on what God provided in the desert. A new era began once they entered the Promised Land. Now that their journey was complete, the Israelites celebrated the Passover anew and the feast of the unleavened bread accompanying it. The manna that sustained them during the journey ceased to be available to them. Like the Israelites, we, the people of God, begin with the Passover and will end with the Passover commemorating God’s loving compassion and care for us sinners. Right through our journey God will provide nourishment for us.
Forgive and be forgiven
Sometime ago a woman wrote a letter to Ann Landers describing the terrible relationship that once existed between her and her brother. It took the death of their father to get her to forgive him and to treat him as a brother again. A short while after their reconciliation, her brother had a heart attack and died in her arms. She ends her letter with this moving paragraph. “I am grateful for the years we had together, but I could scream when I think of all the years we missed because we were too bull-headed and short sighted to try to get along. Now he is gone and I am heartsick.” Today’s readings are an invitation to review the relationships and to bring them in line with Jesus’ teachings.
Mark Link in ‘Sunday Homilies’
In today’s gospel Jesus narrates the well-known parable of the Prodigal son. We are able to witness the patient love of the father who allows his younger son to claim a share of his property and leave home, not warning him never to come back, but perhaps reminding him, that he is always welcome home. Now, this wayward son squanders everything till he ends up taking care of swine. There perhaps he remembers the parting words of his father reminding him that he is always welcome home. The son had not thought of his father but the father had not forgotten his son. While the son is still a long way off, when he sees him coming, the father leaves home, runs to hug him saying, “We are going to have a celebration!” The father must be crazy! Yes, crazily in love with his son! So crazy that he orders a new robe for his son, sandals on his feet to show that he is very much part of the family and then to top it all a grand celebration! The point of the parable however is not the younger son but the elder one. He comes home and hears the sound of celebration and is mad with his father. “It’s not fair!” he shouts out. “He deserves to be punished and treated as a servant and not as a son!” But the father pleads with the elder son “It is only right that we should celebrate and rejoice because he was dead and has come back to life, he was lost and is found.” This parable should fill us with hope no matter how far we have strayed from God. If on the other hand, we have stayed home we should not condemn those who have strayed but rather leave them to our Abba-Father who will welcome us all into his house! Let’s celebrate how good God is to us all –saints and sinners alike!
Leaving Home
People, especially children, leaving home and never returning is a phenomenon found everywhere in the world. Stories by parents whose children have gone missing are heartrending. Since 12 year old Avinash disappeared three years ago in New Delhi, his father has cycled across the sprawling capital, visiting police and railway stations, children’s homes and hospitals, handing out posters and photographs of his missing son. Every time he hears of a child found anywhere in the city, he cycles to the police station, hoping it is Avinash. The boy’s father refuses to think the worst. He believes Avinash is taken by a childless couple who want a child of their own. “If they were to let me know somehow that my son is alive, I would be happy.” says the man. “They can keep him, just let me see his shadow, just let me know he is safe.”
Waiting for his return
Prodigal Father
*****
It is difficult for us to see something new in the parable of the Prodigal son. We have heard the story so many times we believe that we have squeezed it dry of meaning. Not only that, but, as the saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt. When we hear the opening words of the parable once again, "And there was a Father who had two sons," we greet the words with ho-hum. Heard it. Heard it. Heard it.
2. In many local elementary schools, every few weeks the "Lost and Found" box is emptied out and the contents are scattered down the length of the main hall. Coats, mittens, shoes, sweatshirts, gym clothes, are all laid down and spread out in the hopes that their owners will spot them and take them home. But the scene of all those empty clothes creates an eerie sensation, as if it is not the clothes that had been left behind, but that the children themselves have somehow been "lost" - zapped out of their clothes and transported to somewhere far away. For any parent walking down those empty halls, those empty clothes give an empty feeling, a feeling that is disturbing and desolate.
3. God Said...
There is a wonderful story about Maya Angelou. She is an active member now of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco. She wrote that years ago when she first came to San Francisco as a young woman she became sophisticated. She said that was what you were supposed to do when you go to San Francisco, you become sophisticated. And for that reason she said she became agnostic. She thought the two went together. She said that it wasn't that she stopped believing in God, just that God no longer frequented the neighborhoods that she frequented.
5. Admitting We Need Help
9. Who Resented The Prodigal's Return?
10. What the World Expects of the Church
2) Prodigal son’s prodigal father: The son was a rebel, a college drop-out, a carouser, and a partyer. He smoked, he drank Johnnie-Walker, he was a brawler, and had more run-ins with the law than you would care to count. By his own admission, he was the quintessential prodigal son. Following his 1974 conversion experience, he lived as a committed Christian and was ordained by Grace Community Church (Tempt Arizona), in 1982. Now he carries on the evangelizing work of the most respected, admired, and perhaps famous American of the Twentieth Century, the late Billy Graham (born November 7, 1918, Charlotte, NC; died February 21, 2018, Montreat, NC) . His name is Franklin Graham. Today Franklin Graham not only has a tremendous benevolent ministry called The Samaritan Purse, and has met needs all over the world, but he is now preaching the Gospel just as his Dad did, to thousands and thousands of people. He is where he is today because he had a father who made sure the door was always open.
5) Michale Mohr’s prodigal son Jeff: In 1990, Michale Mohr’s son, Jeff, moved to Arizona to work as a computer technician. Michale, back in Portland, Oregon, looked forward to her son’s weekly calls. But after a few years in Arizona, Jeff’s phone calls began to taper off. When Michale’s letters to him were returned, she decided to investigate. Michale found out from Jeff’s friends that he had become addicted to crystal meth, a powerful drug. One day, Jeff had just walked away from his house. No one knew where he was. For the next three years, Michale Mohr made it her mission in life to find her son. She flew back and forth between Oregon and Arizona, canvassing Jeff’s old neighborhood and talking to his friends and associates. The police offered little help. Michale’s quest to find her drug‑addicted son led her into dangerous, run‑down neighborhoods. She witnessed horrible decay and poverty in these drug‑infested hellholes. She faced constant threats to her safety. At one point, she even dressed as a homeless woman in order to relate to the street people she interviewed. Finally, after three years, Michale made contact with someone who knew Jeff. She remembers distinctly the day she found him. Jeff rode up on his bicycle. He had lost weight, his teeth were rotting, he was bruised from a recent beating. But he had ridden on his bicycle for ten miles in the sweltering Arizona heat to find her. They ran into each other’s arms. Jeff had been trying to fight his addiction, but he had been afraid to contact his mother, afraid of how his addiction might hurt her. You will be happy to know that Jeff Mohr moved back to Oregon, got a steady job, and joined Narcotics Anonymous. Michale Mohr’s story appeared in Newsweek magazine [“The Seamier Side of Life” by Michale Mohr, Newsweek (August 18, 1997), p. 14.] It is a story that is all too often repeated in families across our land. And don’t think that Church families are immune to the curse of losing a child to chemical addiction or even to crime.
8) Prodigal couple: I once knew a young couple, a husband and wife, who won the grand prize on a TV show called “The One Hundred Thousand Dollar Pyramid.” One night, they showed me a videotape of the show and I saw them there on television, jumping up and down and screaming like people do on game shows. They won more money than they had ever imagined, an American dream come true. But winning all that money really ruined their lives. Whereas they had always lived within their means in the past, now they went out and got dozens of credit cards and ran up enormous debts. By the time I met them, they were about to lose everything they had and were on their way to getting a divorce. I know many people would love the chance to ruin their lives with all that money! Maybe you’d like that chance, too. But remember, this couple was truly sad. They were prodigal children.
22) Inability to forgive: The singing career of Grammy award winner Marvin Gaye ended in tragedy on April 1, 1983. He was shot to death by his own father. Gaye’s close friend David Ritz wrote Gaye’s biography a year later. He called it Divided Soul. Gaye was indeed a divided soul. He was part artist and part entertainer, part sinner and part saint, part macho man and part gentleman. Gaye’s childhood was tormented by cruelty inflicted upon him by his father. Commenting on the effect this had on Gaye, Ritz says of his friend: “He really believed in Jesus a lot, but he could never apply the teaching of Jesus on forgiveness to his own father. In the end it destroyed them both.” That story of an unforgiving father and his son contrasts sharply with the story of the forgiving father and his son, which Jesus tells in today’s Gospel. And the contrast between the two stories spotlights a growing problem in modern society. It is the inability or unwillingness of people to forgive one another. (Mark Link in Sunday Homilies; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
Today's first reading from the book of Joshua highlights the history of salvation of God's chosen people. Moses had led the people out of Egypt; now Joshua would lead them into the Promised Land. God had fed his people as they journeyed with manna from heaven, now that they have reached the land of promise, manna is replaced by products of the land. God ceases to be a pilgrim; he takes the risk of binding himself to institutions. Today's reading reminds us that no matter what difficulties we encounter on life's journey, we too can make it with the help of God. The only thing we need is persistence and faith that God never abandons us.
Footprints in the sand
One night a man had a dream. He was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. In each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him and the other belonging to the Lord. When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints, and that,
every time that happened, he was at the lowest and saddest times of his life. This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it. Lord he said, You said when I decided to follow you, you would walk with me all the way. Why then in the most troubled times of my life, there are only one set of footprints? I don't understand why you should leave me when I need you most. The Lord replied My precious child, I love you and will never leave you, During your times of trial and suffering, when you only see one set of footprints, it was then that I was carrying you. Mark Link in Sunday Homilies
In today's second reading Paul reminds the Corinthians that we are not called to be God's slaves but His children. All people are invited to be God's children. We are called to be a new creation, for anyone in Christ is a new creation. Paul sums up Christ's mission as follows: to reconcile men with his Father and to make them a new creation. Reconciliation with God and with one another is especially needed in the world today with its many divisions. There can be no peace without repentance and reconciliation.
Today's gospel story of the prodigal son is one of the most familiar and moving portrayals of God's loving compassion for his people. The prodigal son is not a model for conversion. Rather the emphasis is on the mercy of the father and the joy of finding the sinner again. Through this story Jesus was giving practical expression to the Father's invitation to all his children. The story is realistic and full of insights.
Almost every detail of the story emphasizes the immense reckless love God has for us: the way the father was ready to give his son a share of his property though he did not deserve it; the way he looked every day for his son, ran with abandon to meet him and refused to listen to his well-rehearsed speech; the manner in which he dressed him with the finest robe, ring and sandals and how he threw an extravagant feast to celebrate his son's return and tried to persuade his older son to share in the joyous occasion. Every detail is charged with symbolism and reveals the unconditional love of God. The Father does not wait for his son to come back. He goes out he runs to meet us. The Father does not wait to listen to the litany of our sins when we pray. He interrupts us to tell us how precious we are to him. How glad he is to have us back and how much he is going to do for us. If we appreciate God's love we would not be calculating like the older brother and pout about our goodness and find fault with our brothers and sisters. We would rejoice at God's goodness in spite of our weaknesses and those of our brothers and sisters. God wants us to share in his joy and become generous and forgiving like Him.
Dig Two Graves
The singing career of Grammy award winner Marvin Gaye ended in tragedy on April 1, 1983. He was shot to death by his own father. Gaye's close friend David Ritz wrote Gayes biography a year later. He called it Divided Soul. Gaye was indeed a divided soul. He was part artist and part entertainer, part sinner and part saint, part macho man and part gentleman. Gayes childhood was tormented by cruelty inflicted upon him by his father. Commenting upon the effect this had on Gaye, Ritz says of his friend: He really believed in Jesus a lot, but he could never apply the teaching of Jesus on forgiveness to his own father. In the end it destroyed them both. The story of the unforgiving father and son contrasts sharply with the story of the forgiving father and son which Jesus tells in todays' gospel….. Another way to portray the destructive power of hate or revenge occurs in the film The Karate Kid. In one scene, Mr. Miyagi asks Daniel if he has a good reason to learn karate. Daniel responds, Is revenge a good enough reason? To this Mr. Miyagi responds, Whoever pursues revenge should dig two graves, one for his enemy and one for himself. Mark Link in Sunday Homilies
Not only does this parable reveal God as father, to whose kingdom sinful man has access at all times, provided he returns to the one whom he has abandoned: it is also a revelation of Jesus himself. For it is his own way of acting which constitutes the starting-point of the story. It is in order to justify his own dealings with sinners that Jesus describes the father who hurries out to receive the returning prodigal, and finds his joy in restoring him to his dignity as a son. Finally, every Christian is in danger of becoming like the elder son who, in contrast to the father, is unwilling to welcome back the erring younger brother. The writer Ramuz depicts for us the scene on the last day, with the crowds of the elect pushing their way towards the gates of paradise and shaking with indignation complaining: How can he pardon people like that. And then all those sham devout people, who refuse to recognize their brother in the pardoned sinner, are driven back to hell. The gospel story does not go so far as that. How it ends depends on ourselves. Will the elder brother, the one we fancy we are like, be able to make the transition from contempt of the sinner to love of them, from the idea of a book-keeping God to that of a Father who loves because he wishes to save? Glenstal Bible Missal
Matt Houston
Matt Houston is a television programme about a wealthy Texan now turned private investigator. In its premiere showing it gave some background to Matt Houston's life, His mother died giving birth to him. His father was so depressed that he gave up Matt for adoption to his closest friend. The father then drifted away becoming an alcoholic and a criminal. Many years later he finds out that Matts life is being threatened because of a case he is working on. So the father returns to warn him. As the story unfolds, their true relationship is revealed. At first Matt refuses to accept his real father. But when the father steps in front of a bullet aimed for his son, Matts eyes are opened and he realizes how much his father loves him. The story ends with the father dying in his son's arms forgiven by his son Matt and embraced in love.
-This television story is really an adaptation of todays' gospel parable, except that the roles are reversed. In the gospel story told by Jesus it was the son who went away and wasted his life, only to return and be forgiven by his father. In the Matt Houston story it was the father who went away and wasted his life, only to return and be reconciled with his son. Both versions show us what a magnificent love there is between parents and children, and, consequently, how boundless Gods love is for us.
Albert Cylwicki in His Word Resounds
During the forty years Israel spent in the desert, their existence depended on what God provided in the desert. A new era began once they entered the Promised Land. Now that their journey was complete, the Israelites celebrated the Passover anew and the feast of the unleavened bread accompanying it. The manna that sustained them during the journey ceased to be available to them. Like the Israelites, we, the people of God, begin with the Passover and will end with the Passover commemorating God’s loving compassion and care for us sinners. Right through our journey God will provide nourishment for us.
Forgive and be forgiven
Sometime ago a woman wrote a letter to Ann Landers describing the terrible relationship that once existed between her and her brother. It took the death of their father to get her to forgive him and to treat him as a brother again. A short while after their reconciliation, her brother had a heart attack and died in her arms. She ends her letter with this moving paragraph. “I am grateful for the years we had together, but I could scream when I think of all the years we missed because we were too bull-headed and short sighted to try to get along. Now he is gone and I am heartsick.” Today’s readings are an invitation to review the relationships and to bring them in line with Jesus’ teachings.
Mark Link in ‘Sunday Homilies’
In today’s gospel Jesus narrates the well-known parable of the Prodigal son. We are able to witness the patient love of the father who allows his younger son to claim a share of his property and leave home, not warning him never to come back, but perhaps reminding him, that he is always welcome home. Now, this wayward son squanders everything till he ends up taking care of swine. There perhaps he remembers the parting words of his father reminding him that he is always welcome home. The son had not thought of his father but the father had not forgotten his son. While the son is still a long way off, when he sees him coming, the father leaves home, runs to hug him saying, “We are going to have a celebration!” The father must be crazy! Yes, crazily in love with his son! So crazy that he orders a new robe for his son, sandals on his feet to show that he is very much part of the family and then to top it all a grand celebration! The point of the parable however is not the younger son but the elder one. He comes home and hears the sound of celebration and is mad with his father. “It’s not fair!” he shouts out. “He deserves to be punished and treated as a servant and not as a son!” But the father pleads with the elder son “It is only right that we should celebrate and rejoice because he was dead and has come back to life, he was lost and is found.” This parable should fill us with hope no matter how far we have strayed from God. If on the other hand, we have stayed home we should not condemn those who have strayed but rather leave them to our Abba-Father who will welcome us all into his house! Let’s celebrate how good God is to us all –saints and sinners alike!
Leaving Home
People, especially children, leaving home and never returning is a phenomenon found everywhere in the world. Stories by parents whose children have gone missing are heartrending. Since 12 year old Avinash disappeared three years ago in New Delhi, his father has cycled across the sprawling capital, visiting police and railway stations, children’s homes and hospitals, handing out posters and photographs of his missing son. Every time he hears of a child found anywhere in the city, he cycles to the police station, hoping it is Avinash. The boy’s father refuses to think the worst. He believes Avinash is taken by a childless couple who want a child of their own. “If they were to let me know somehow that my son is alive, I would be happy.” says the man. “They can keep him, just let me see his shadow, just let me know he is safe.”
Waiting for his return
The mother of a 14-year old boy is still waiting for her son to come home. “Everyday my husband and my father would wait at the police station, but they would be driven home” says Parveena, the boy’s mother, as she sits on her son’s bed, surrounded by his pictures and books. The boy’s mother says that one morning in March 2010, she fed her son a breakfast of fried pancakes and spicy potatoes, and then left for a community health training programme. The boy had told his mother that he would have a bath and settle down to study for his exams.” says Parveena clutching the boy’s photograph to her heart. When she returned, he was gone. “The neighbours said some boys had called him out. We searched everywhere, we went to the police but they refused to believe that something had happened to our son.” – These are cases of people missing against their will, but what about people who willingly choose to go astray? Today’s parable teaches us that God is always waiting. He never gives up!
Anonymous
Inability to forgive
The singing career of Grammy award winner Marvin Gaye ended in tragedy on April 1, 1983. He was shot to death by his own father. Gaye’s close friend David Ritz wrote Gaye’s biography a year later. He called it Divided Soul. Gaye was indeed a divided soul. He was part artist and part entertainer, part sinner and part saint, part macho man and part gentleman. Gaye’s childhood was tormented by cruelty inflicted upon him by his father. Commenting on the effect this had on Gaye, Ritz says of his friend: “He really believed in Jesus a lot, but he could never apply the teaching of Jesus on forgiveness to his own father.” That story of an unforgiving father and son contrasts sharply with the story of the forgiving father and son, which Jesus tells in today’s gospel. And the contrast between the two stories spotlights a growing problem in modern society. It is the inability or unwillingness of people to forgive one another.
Mark Link in ‘Sunday Homilies’
Anonymous
Inability to forgive
The singing career of Grammy award winner Marvin Gaye ended in tragedy on April 1, 1983. He was shot to death by his own father. Gaye’s close friend David Ritz wrote Gaye’s biography a year later. He called it Divided Soul. Gaye was indeed a divided soul. He was part artist and part entertainer, part sinner and part saint, part macho man and part gentleman. Gaye’s childhood was tormented by cruelty inflicted upon him by his father. Commenting on the effect this had on Gaye, Ritz says of his friend: “He really believed in Jesus a lot, but he could never apply the teaching of Jesus on forgiveness to his own father.” That story of an unforgiving father and son contrasts sharply with the story of the forgiving father and son, which Jesus tells in today’s gospel. And the contrast between the two stories spotlights a growing problem in modern society. It is the inability or unwillingness of people to forgive one another.
Mark Link in ‘Sunday Homilies’
Prodigal Father
Matt Houston is a television program about a wealthy Texan now turned private investigator. In its premiere showing it gave some background to Matt Houston’s life. His mother died giving birth to him. His father was so depressed that he gave up Matt for adoption to his closest friend. The father than drifted away, eventually becoming an alcoholic and a criminal. Many years later he finds out that Matt’s life is being threatened because of a case he is working on. So the father returns to warn him. As the story unfolds, their true relationship is revealed. At first Matt refuses to accept his real father. But when the father steps in front of a bullet aimed for his son, Matt’s eyes are opened and he realizes how much his father loves him. The story ends with the father dying in this son’s arms – forgiven by his son Matt and embraced in love. This television story is really an adaptation of today’s gospel parable, except that the roles are reversed. Both versions show us what a magnificent love there is between parents and children, and, consequently, how boundless God’s love is for us. In his book ‘Rediscovering the Parables’, Joachim Jeremias says that the Prodigal Son story tells us with impressive simplicity what God is like – a God of incredible goodness, grace and mercy. Albert Cylwicki in ‘His Word Resounds’
Mutiny on the Bounty
Mutiny on the Bounty is one of the most adventurous maritime episodes in history. Captain Bligh sailed in the ship to Tahiti in search of breadfruit plant for the West Indies. He was proud and ruthless, and many of his crew were against him. While returning from Tahiti, most of the sailors rebelled against him and a mutiny broke out. The captain and 17 of his sympathizers were forced into a small boat and were left on the high sea. The mutineers, 15 of them with the ship Bounty went to Tahiti. Gathering with them some men, women and children, they reached a small Island called Pitcairn in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and South America. Afraid that they might be found out if they had the ship, they saved whatever they could carry and burnt the ship. This group of undesirables perpetuated their evil lives of drinking, revelry and murder. Within ten years of their landing on this island only one survived. His name was John Adams, and he was no better than the rest who died. However, he had to take on the responsibility of the Island’s folks. One day as he was checking the goods salvaged from the ship before it was burnt, he found an old Bible. Though he was not interested in it, it was the only book on the Island, and he began reading it. The Word of God began to work in him and eventually he changed his life and became a new creation in Christ. He built a school cum church and began to lead the children in Christian experience. For years the only book they had was the Bible. Years later, a strong Christian community was formed on this Island. The warm and pleasant behaviour of the people on this Island attracted the ships sailing through the Pacific. In 1980 when a census was taken, all the inhabitants on the Island were Christians. John Rose in ‘John’s Sunday Homilies’
Mutiny on the Bounty
Mutiny on the Bounty is one of the most adventurous maritime episodes in history. Captain Bligh sailed in the ship to Tahiti in search of breadfruit plant for the West Indies. He was proud and ruthless, and many of his crew were against him. While returning from Tahiti, most of the sailors rebelled against him and a mutiny broke out. The captain and 17 of his sympathizers were forced into a small boat and were left on the high sea. The mutineers, 15 of them with the ship Bounty went to Tahiti. Gathering with them some men, women and children, they reached a small Island called Pitcairn in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and South America. Afraid that they might be found out if they had the ship, they saved whatever they could carry and burnt the ship. This group of undesirables perpetuated their evil lives of drinking, revelry and murder. Within ten years of their landing on this island only one survived. His name was John Adams, and he was no better than the rest who died. However, he had to take on the responsibility of the Island’s folks. One day as he was checking the goods salvaged from the ship before it was burnt, he found an old Bible. Though he was not interested in it, it was the only book on the Island, and he began reading it. The Word of God began to work in him and eventually he changed his life and became a new creation in Christ. He built a school cum church and began to lead the children in Christian experience. For years the only book they had was the Bible. Years later, a strong Christian community was formed on this Island. The warm and pleasant behaviour of the people on this Island attracted the ships sailing through the Pacific. In 1980 when a census was taken, all the inhabitants on the Island were Christians. John Rose in ‘John’s Sunday Homilies’
*****
It is difficult for us to see something new in the parable of the Prodigal son. We have heard the story so many times we believe that we have squeezed it dry of meaning. Not only that, but, as the saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt. When we hear the opening words of the parable once again, "And there was a Father who had two sons," we greet the words with ho-hum. Heard it. Heard it. Heard it.
Yet, I would suggest that just as Henri Nouwen saw a half dozen different facets to Rembrandt's painting of the Prodigal Son, so too are there many different angles to the story itself. This morning I would like for us to re-examine this familiar story by looking at the other prodigal son...
_______________________2. In many local elementary schools, every few weeks the "Lost and Found" box is emptied out and the contents are scattered down the length of the main hall. Coats, mittens, shoes, sweatshirts, gym clothes, are all laid down and spread out in the hopes that their owners will spot them and take them home. But the scene of all those empty clothes creates an eerie sensation, as if it is not the clothes that had been left behind, but that the children themselves have somehow been "lost" - zapped out of their clothes and transported to somewhere far away. For any parent walking down those empty halls, those empty clothes give an empty feeling, a feeling that is disturbing and desolate.
Losing track of a child is every parent's worst nightmare. It only takes a moment to go from peaceful to panic when you suddenly realize that somehow, someone has gone astray. And, sorry to tell you this, it is a worry that never stops. Just when you think you have gotten through the scary "I can walk but not really talk" phase, children go off to pre-school and kindergarten - out of our sight for hours on end. Then they get older and want to do things like ride their bikes to a friend's house, or go to the mall by themselves, or "hang-out" without you quite knowing where they are or what they are doing. For some reason teenagers always insist on getting driver's licenses and then they graduate from high school and go off to college, or join the military, or get their own place. It doesn't matter how old they get - parents still want to know where their "kids" are and how they are doing. "Out of sight" definitely does not mean, for a father or mother, "out of mind."
But good parents also know there is a time and place when letting go is necessary. To grow and develop their own sense of responsibility, to take their own actions seriously, and to learn to live with the consequences of those actions, children have to let go of the "family lifeboat" and dare to test the untamed waters of the world.
Yet for Jesus' first-century audience, such a message was unfamiliar...
______________________________3. God Said...
Is there a better picture of forgiveness in the whole Bible? It reminds me of a story about a woman who had upset her pastor because she claimed that she had conversations with God. She had attracted quite a following in the church and every day people gathered at her house, got on their knees, prayed, sang hymns and listened to her describe what God was saying to her.
The pastor thought all this was getting out of hand, so he went to visit her. "I know you say you are talking with God," he said, "but what you hear talking back at you is just your imagination. Just to prove it, I want you to ask God to name three of the sins that I confessed this morning. Then tell me what God said. If you can name those sins, I'll believe that you really are talking with God." The woman sat there for a long while, praying. Then she looked up and said, "I asked God to name your three sins, but God said, 'I forgot.'"
Norm Linville, The Prodigal Father
________________
4. He Seeks Until He Finds You She was taking voice lessons at the time. Her teacher gave her an exercise where she was to read out of some religious pamphlet. The reading ended with these words: "God loves me." She finished the reading, put the pamphlet down. The teacher said, "I want you to read that last sentence again." So she picked it up, read it again, this time somewhat sarcastically, then put it down again. The teacher said, "Read it again." She read it again. Then she described what happened. "After about the seventh repetition I began to sense there might be some truth in this statement. That there was a possibility that God really loves me, Maya Angelou. I suddenly began to cry at the grandness of it all. I knew if God loved me, I could do wonderful things. I could do great things. I could learn anything. I could achieve anything. For what could stand against me with God, since one person, any person, with God form a majority now."
There are many people who are just like that. They think it is unbelievable that God would know me, that God would love me, that God would know my name. Just the grandness of it, as Maya Angelou says, that God would really love me. But that is the gospel. He seeks you until he finds you. She found that God found her, in San Francisco.
Mark Trotter
________________________________5. Admitting We Need Help
Sign seen in a textile mill, "When your thread becomes tangled, call the foreman." A young woman was new on the job. Her thread became tangled and she thought, "I'll just straighten this out myself." She tried, but the situation only worsened. Finally she called the foreman. "I did the best I could," she said. "No you didn't. To do the best, you should have called me."
Traditional
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6. Where Are We At the Parable's End?Let's step back outside with the older brother, still in need of a shower, arms folded across his chest, the moral high road. "But when this son of yours came back ... you killed the fatted calf for him." He cannot even bring himself to acknowledge his brother with a name -- "this son of yours." A sense of unfairness, as you know, can turn venomous rather quickly.
So where are we at parable's end? Are we inside the party celebrating? Or are we standing outside with our arms folded, refusing to come in? Jesus will not tell us how this story will end. The father passionately invites the older son inside, "pleads with him" to join in the welcome. Curiously, however, we are never told what the older brother decides to do. The story ends but it doesn't end. You can almost hear the voice of Walter Cronkite saying, "You are there." Will we RSVP to a party thrown by an unfair God? Or will we stubbornly remain outside? In a world where God does not play fair, this parable forces us to make a choice. Who is the real "prodigal" here? Who is the real "waster"? From the beginning Jesus says that this is a story about two brothers. Which one is the authentic prodigal? Which one has yet to come home to the Father's extravagant love?
Frank G. Honeycutt, Sermons on the Gospel Reading, Cycle C, CSS Publishing
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7. Our Own Sin Is Hard To SeeLet me tell you a true story. Back in 1893 there were a group of four sisters. The Cherry Sisters they called themselves, who made their stage debut in Cedar Rapids in a skit they wrote themselves. For three years, the Cherry Sisters performed to packed theaters throughout the Midwest. People came to see them to find out if they were as bad as they had heard. Their unbelievably atrocious acting enraged critics and provoked the audience to throw vegetables at the would-be actresses. Wisely, the sisters thought it best to travel with an iron screen which they would erect in front of the stage in self-defense.
Amazingly, in 1896 the girls were offered a thousand dollars a week to perform on Broadway -- not because they were so good, but because they were so unbelievably bad. Seven years later, after the Cherry Sisters had earned what in that day was a respectable fortune of $200,000, they retired from the stage for the peaceful life back on the farm. Oddly enough, these successful Broadway "stars" remained convinced to the end that they were truly the most talented actresses ever to grace the American stage. They never had a clue as to how bad they truly were!
The parable this morning does not tell us what the elder brother did when his father came out to speak to him. It doesn't reveal to us whether he realized that his envy and disdain had made him just as bad as his younger brother. Yes, the elder brother had never stooped to find himself in the pigpens of life. He would never have been caught dead carousing with prostitutes or wasting his resources in riotous living but in the end his refusal to rejoice at the return of his sinful brother was, to Jesus, just as offensive.
The tragedy was that he never realized just how bad HE truly was!
Lee Griess, Taking The Risk Out Of Dying, CSS Publishing Company.
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8. We Prefer Justice to MercyPerhaps you remember the cartoon strip, Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin is a little boy with an overactive imagination and a stuffed tiger, Hobbes, who comes to life as his imaginary friend. In one cartoon strip, Calvin turns to his friend Hobbes and says, "I feel bad I called Susie names and hurt her feelings. I'm sorry I did that." Hobbes replies, "Maybe you should apologize to her." Calvin thinks about it for a moment and then responds, "I keep hoping there's a less obvious solution." We have trouble accepting those whom God accepts because we take God's acceptance for granted and God's forgiveness as our right.
We are much like the elder brother who preferred justice to mercy. We have worked for what we have (or so we think), and it's unfair that everyone else should not have to do the same. We have earned God's favor (or so we think) by "staying at home." We have merited his acceptance by the good life that we live. So how dare God receive and accept our sinful brother who has returned home saying he's sorry.
Lee Griess, Taking The Risk Out Of Dying
_______________9. Who Resented The Prodigal's Return?
The Religious Ed teacher was reading this story of the Prodigal Son to his class, clearly emphasizing the resentment the older brother expressed at the return of his brother. When he was finished telling the story, he asked the class, "Now who was really sad that the prodigal son had come home?" After a few minutes of silence, one little boy raised his hand and confidently stated, "The fatted calf."
Staff
______________10. What the World Expects of the Church
On a cold, dreary December evening, several hundred people gathered at a large downtown church in Winston-Salem to celebrate the Christmas season. Bishop Ernest Fitzgerald, present that evening, had gone down a long hallway to help a small boy who was pushing against massive oak doors trying to get outside. The boy was about 2 years old and as he pushed he was crying as if his heart would break.
The Bishop picked him up, thinking he belonged to someone at one of the Christmas parties but as he opened the doors and looked outside he spotted an old-model car speeding away in the darkness. Gradually, it dawned on him that the child he held in his arms had been abandoned.
Phone calls were made, and soon the church was filled with people wanting to help in any way they could. Within moments, the local TV stations interrupted their usual programs to ask if anyone knew the identity of the little boy. The next morning, one of the city's newspapers put the child's picture on the front page. Under the picture there was an article describing the events of the evening before. The article began with this striking line: "Someone trusted the church last night, and the church came through!"
Bishop Fizgerald later reflected on this event and wrote these words...
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11. The Drunkard SoldierThe story is told about a soldier during combat. He was drinking heavily and was a constant menace to his comrades. His commanding officer had had him on the carpet several times. But on this occasion he was ready to throw the book at him. Said the colonel to his lieutenant, "I have given him every break." The officer responded, "Sir, you have punished him and it hasn't worked. Why not forgive him?" The colonel accepted the advice. To the soldier he said, "I have punished you many times. Punishment has not worked. This time I am going to forgive you. Your many offences will be removed from your personnel folder." The soldier, who had expected a court martial, broke down and wept. More to the point, he never drank again.
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Stories from Fr. Antony Kadavil# 1: Gandhi’s confession: Mohandas K. Gandhi, “the Father of the Nation” in India, in his famous autobiography, My Experiments with Truth, writes about his own experience of theft, confession and forgiveness as a schoolboy. “I was fifteen when I stole a bit of gold out of my brother’s armlet to clear a debt of about twenty-five rupees, (U.S. $3 in those days), which he had incurred. He had on his arm an armlet (bracelet) of solid gold. It was not difficult to clip a bit out of it. Well, it was done, and the debt cleared. But this became more than I could bear. I resolved never to steal again. I also made up my mind to confess it to my father. But I did not dare to speak…. I decided at last to write out the confession, submit it to my father, and ask his forgiveness. I wrote it on a slip of paper and handed it to him myself. In this note not only did I confess my guilt, but also requested an adequate punishment for it, and closed with a request to him not to punish himself for my offence. I also pledged myself never to steal in the future. I was trembling as I handed the confession to my father. He was then confined to bed. I handed him the note and sat on his bed. He sat up to read it. He read it through, and pearl-drops trickled down his cheeks, wetting the paper. For a moment he closed his eyes in thought and then tore up the note. He again lay down. I also cried. I could see my father’s agony. Those pearl-drops of love cleansed my heart and washed my sin away. Only he who has experienced such love can know what it is… This sort of sublime forgiveness was not natural to my father. I had thought that he would be angry, say hard things, and strike his forehead. But he was so wonderfully peaceful, and I believe this was due to my clean confession. A clean confession, combined with a promise never to commit the sin again, when offered before one who has the right to receive it, is the purest type of repentance. I know that my confession made my father feel absolutely safe about me and increased his affection for me beyond measure.”
# 2: A Father’s Forgiveness: In his book, What’s So Amazing About Grace, Phillip Yancey tells the story of Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway grew up in a very devout evangelical family, yet there he never experienced the grace of Christ. He lived a libertine life that most of us would call “dissolute”… but there was no father, no parent waiting for him, and he sank into the mire of a graceless depression. In Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Capital of the World”, a Spanish Newspaper El Liberal, carried a poignant story about a father and his son. It went like this. A teen-aged boy, Paco, and his very wealthy father had a falling out, and the young man ran away from home. The father was crushed. After a few days, he realized that the boy was serious, so the father set out to find him. He searched high and low for five months to no avail. Finally, in a last, desperate attempt to find his son, the father put an ad in a Madrid newspaper. The ad read, “Dear Paco, Meet me at the Hotel Montana noon Tuesday. All is forgiven. I love you. Signed, Your Father. On Tuesday, in the office of Hotel Montana, over 800 Pacos showed up, looking for love and forgiveness from their fathers. What a magnet that ad was! Over 800 Pacos!! We all hunger for pardon. We are all “Pacos” yearning to run and find a father who will declare, “All is forgiven.”
26 Additional Anecdotes
1) Rembrandt’s painting of the Prodigal Son: In 1986 Henri Nouwen, a Dutch theologian and writer, toured St. Petersburg, Russia, the former Leningrad. While there he visited the famous Hermitage where he saw, among other things, Rembrandt’s painting of the Prodigal Son. The painting was in a hallway and received the natural light of a nearby window. Nouwen stood for two hours, mesmerized by this remarkable painting. As he stood there the sun changed, and at every change of the light’s angle he saw a different aspect of the painting revealed. He would later write: “There were as many paintings in the Prodigal Son as there were changes in the day.” It is difficult for us to see something new in the parable of the Prodigal son because we have heard the story so often. Yet, I would suggest that just as Henri Nouwen saw a half dozen different facets in Rembrandt’s painting of the Prodigal Son, so, too, are there many different facets in the story itself.
3) The returned millionaire prodigal: The late Alvin Rogness, a former seminary professor and author of the book When Things Go Wrong, once suggested that he would have told the story of the prodigal son in a slightly different way. He would have had the prodigal go to the far country with his inheritance, but instead of having him squander it, he would have had the prodigal invest it in stocks and bonds . . . He would have him become the richest man in the land. Then, one evening when his fellow citizens had thrown a big banquet in his honor, and with everyone fawning over him, he would have had the prodigal come to himself and say “What am I doing here? I don’t belong here. I have done nothing of value with all I have earned, I have only remembered the big I, me, my and mine.”
4) Six years in jail for the returned prodigal: Retired seminary professor Fred B. Craddock was preaching on the parable of the prodigal son. After the service a man said, “I really didn’t care much for that, frankly.” Craddock asked, “What is it you don’t like about it?” He said, “Forgiving that boy was violation of moral responsibility.” Craddock asked, “Well, what would you have done?” The man said, “I think when he came home he should’ve been arrested.” “This fellow was serious,” says Craddock. “He was an attorney.” Craddock thought the man was going to tell him a joke. But he was really serious. This man, according to Craddock, “belonged to this unofficial organization of quality control people or the moral police who gave mandatory sentences and no parole.” Craddock asked the man, “What would you have given the prodigal as his punishment?” The man said, “Six years.” (Craddock Stories (St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2001). This man working for “quality control” and acting like the “moral police“ wanted the same strict standards that apply to industry and to the law to apply to relationships within the family, as well as to our relationship with God. Would you want this man to be your Dad? Jesus was telling a parable about God. Would you want God to operate with mandatory sentences for doing wrong? Be careful how you answer, for, according to the Bible, all of us have done wrong.
6) Prodigal girl December’s return: Many years ago, comedian Chonda Pierce met a young woman named December. December’s father was a pastor. December got the message early on that pastor’s children are supposed to be perfect. December knew she would never be good enough for the people at Church. So December began rebelling against her family’s and her Church’s expectations. By her late teens, she was living on the streets. She spent her nights partying, sleeping with any man who caught her eye. Sometimes, she would slip into her parents’ Church during the service, but she always left before anyone could talk to her. After she became pregnant, December decided to return to her parents. She expected shame and condemnation. Instead, December’s parents welcomed her back with open arms. As she says, “The bottom line is that I came back to my family and God because they love me with no strings attached. They forgave me. . . I thought I could do something to make them disown me, but I was wrong.” [Chonda Pierce, It’s Always Darkest Before the Fun Comes Up (Grand Rapids, MI.: Zondervan, 1998), pp. 80-84.]
7) A ghost story: In Henderson County, North Carolina they tell the story of the ghost that haunts Mount Hebron Church Road. People say that on some nights if you travel down Mount Hebron, you might catch the glimpse of a woman, dressed all in black clothes of a style a century old. She seems agitated, and those who have looked into her face say that it is full of sadness and longing. Anyone foolish enough to try and confront her soon realizes that he is all alone on the road. The woman has seemingly vanished. Some believe that the apparition is the ghost of a widow who lost her beloved son in the Civil War. She has never reconciled herself to his death, and so she wanders up and down Mount Hebron Church Road, looking for his carriage, waiting for his return from the battlefields. She is doomed to live out her grief and disappointment every night as she realizes that, once again, her son has not come back. [Carden, Gary and Nina Anderson. Belled Buzzards, Hucksters and Grieving Specters. Appalachian Tales: Strange, True & Legendary (Asheboro, N.C.: Down Home Press, 1994), pp. 5-6.] That’s a simple ghost story, but it is the horror of every parent – a child who does not return home, a child addicted to drugs, or in a destructive relationship, or in jail.
9) The prodigal in a pigpen: Writer Tom Mullins in his book The Confidence Factor tells about a friend named Dana who was staying at a rehabilitation center in Indiantown, Florida. Dana was dealing with some destructive issues in his life, so Tom decided to drive out and visit him. As he pulled into the center, Tom was directed to the barn where Dana was working. When Tom found him, Dana was standing knee‑deep in a pigpen with a large can of feed under his arm. He was covered in mud from impatient pigs scurrying to be fed. What a scene. Here was this successful businessman, who was usually well dressed, standing in the thick stench of a muddy pen, feeding pigs on a brutally hot day.
As Tom watched Dana clomp through the mud, he couldn’t help but think about the story of the Prodigal Son. The Prodigal Son had squandered his inheritance, only to find himself sleeping in a pigpen, eating with the swine. Tom says he was overwhelmed at the thought of the miracle God wanted to do through Dana’s life. Tom got out of the car, walked into the muddy stench, and hugged Dana. He told him he loved him and was proud of his efforts to know God and to work through some of the challenges in his life.
Eventually, Dana got his life turned around and his marriage restored. Today, he runs a ministry where hundreds of people find healing and restoration through the power of Christ. Dana was abused as a child. He would be the first to tell you that the key to dealing with the pain and abuse of his childhood was getting his life refocused on God. For years, he tried to mask his pain with alcohol and drugs. He was dealing with his hurt in isolation, decreasing his chances of keeping his life intact. The pigpen experience forced his focus off himself. Once he learned how to trust God with his hurt, he gained confidence to take action and rescue the things that mattered most to him. [The Key to Developing the Winning Edge in Life (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), pp. 130-131.] My friends, you and I need to refocus our lives on God. Whether we’ve strayed only a few baby steps away from God or have taken our inheritance into the far country, the key to regaining our lives is to lose them in trusting God in all things.
10) The prodigal Cherry Sisters: Back in 1893 there was a group of four sisters, the Cherry Sisters they called themselves, who made their stage debut in Cedar Rapids in a skit they wrote themselves. For three years, the Cherry Sisters performed to packed theaters throughout the Midwest. People came to see them to find out if they were as bad as they had heard. Their unbelievably atrocious acting enraged critics and provoked the audience to throw vegetables at the would-be actresses. Wisely, the sisters thought it best to travel with an iron screen which they would erect in front of the stage in self-defense.
Amazingly, in 1896 the girls were offered a thousand dollars a week to perform on Broadway — not because they were so good, but because they were so unbelievably bad. Seven years later, after the Cherry Sisters had earned what in that day was a respectable fortune of $200,000, they retired from the stage for the peaceful life back on the farm. Oddly enough, these successful Broadway “stars” remained convinced to the end that they were truly the most talented actresses ever to grace the American stage. They never had a clue as to how bad they truly were!
11) The prodigal father: Perhaps you’ve seen Bill Watterson’s cartoon strip, Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin is a little boy with an overactive imagination and a stuffed tiger, Hobbes, who comes to life as his imaginary friend. In one cartoon strip, Calvin turns to his friend Hobbes and says, “I feel bad I called Susie names and hurt her feelings. I’m sorry I did that.” Hobbes replies, “Maybe you should apologize to her.” Calvin thinks about it for a moment and then responds, “I keep hoping there’s a less obvious solution.” We have trouble accepting those whom God accepts because we take God’s acceptance for granted and God’s forgiveness as our right.
12) Prodigal son: In 1973, Tony Orlando recorded the song, “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree.” It became the number one hit record for the year, became Tony Orlando’s theme song and grew into an American anthem of hope and homecoming, reunion and renewal. We have used it (and its yellow ribbon symbol) to welcome home soldiers, POW’s, hostages and lost children. The song was probably inspired by the following story. A young man is on a train. He seems deeply troubled, nervous, anxious, afraid, fighting back the tears. An older man seated beside him senses that something is wrong and he asks the younger man if he is all right. The young man, needing to talk, blurts out his story: Three years before, after an argument with his father one evening, the young man had run away from home! He had chased back and forth across the country looking for freedom and happiness and with every passing day had become more miserable. Finally, it dawned on him that more than anything he wanted to go home. Home was where he wanted to be, but he didn’t know how his parents felt about him now. After all, he had hurt them deeply. He had said some cruel, callous things to his father. He had left an arrogant note on his pillow. He wouldn’t blame them if they never wanted to see him again. He had written ahead that he would be passing by their back yard on the afternoon train on this day and if they forgave him, if they wanted to see him, if they wanted him to come home to tie a white rag on the crab apple tree in the back yard. If the white rag were there, he would get off the train and come home; if not, he would stay on the train and stay out of their lives forever.
Just as the young man finished his story, the train began to slow down as it pulled into the town where his family lived. Tension was high, so much so that the young man couldn’t bear to look. The older man said: “I’ll watch for you. You put your head down and relax; close your eyes. I’ll watch for you.” As they came to the old home place, the older man looked and then touched the young man excitedly on the shoulder and said: “Look, son, look! You can go home! You can go home! There’s a white rag on every limb!” Isn’t that a great story? The truth is: that powerful story is simply a modern re-telling of the greatest short story in history, namely, Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son. The story was probably inspired by the Parable of the prodigal son.
13) “How can I be lost if I’m with you?” Grandpa and his granddaughter were out for a walk one day when Grandpa realized they had walked a whole lot farther than their normal walks. He asked his granddaughter, “Do you know here we are?” The girl said, “No!” “Do you know how to get home?” Again the girl said, “No!” Then Grandpa asked, “If you don’t know where you are or how to get home, does that mean you’re lost?” The girl said, “No, Grandpa! How can I be lost if I’m with you?”
14) Prodigal student: Brady Whitehead, chaplain of Lambuth University in Tennessee, tells the true story of a student whose parents were tragically killed in an accident. This student suddenly became the beneficiary of the estate. According to Brady, he started squandering the money on lavish trips. He would even invite other students to go along at his expense. He was spending the money so fast that Brady called him into his office one day and had a talk with him. He said that as Chaplin of the school he felt it was his responsibility to question his spending habits. The student responded: “But what you don’t understand is just how much money I have inherited.” “Well, that may be so,” said Brady, “but even to a large estate there comes an end.” Well, the student did not listen, and Brady revealed that by the time he graduated from Lambuth, all of his parent’s money was gone.
15) “He nearly killed the prodigal son!” A teenager came to his pastor for advice: “I left home,” said the boy, “and did something that will make my dad furious when he finds out. What should I do?” The minister thought for a moment and replied, “Go home and confess your sin to your father, and he’ll probably forgive you and treat you like the prodigal son.” Sometime later the boy reported to the minister, “Well, I told Dad what I did.” “And did he kill the fatted calf for you?” asked the minister. “No,” said the boy, “but he nearly killed the prodigal son!”
16) “Love means not ever having to say you’re sorry.” In the book, Love Story by Eric Segal a Harvard graduate, and a professor at Yale, Jennifer and Oliver have their first serious fight as newlyweds. Jennifer runs from the apartment and disappears. She has tried to build a bridge of reconciliation between her husband and his father … and Oliver in anger tells her to get out of his life. Suddenly, Oliver realizes he has hurt her deeply, but she is gone! Frantically he rushes to the old familiar places searching for her. All the while she becomes more beloved to him in the emptiness of estrangement. Searching fruitlessly, he becomes increasingly frightened at what he has done to hurt her … and he hurts because of hurting her. Finally, having run out of places to look, he dejectedly returns to the apartment. It is very late. But unbelievably she is sitting on the front steps. He hurries to her and begins to express his sorrow for hurting her. She replies: “Love means not ever having to say you’re sorry.” That is a beautiful and ideal thought in its own way although it is not an adequate definition of love.
17) “I specialize in misdemeanors!”: While working as a court-appointed attorney, Emory Potter was assigned a client who had been accused of criminal trespass. Mr. Potter probed his client with some general questions of background. He asked if he had any previous arrests or convictions. The man ashamedly said, “Yes, sir. I’ve got quite a few.” The thorough attorney then asked, “Any felonies?” The man indignantly replied, “No sir! I specialize in misdemeanors!” (Readers’ Digest, December 1992, p. 18. Cited in In Other Words). That sounds like many of us. We know in our minds that we are sinners, but we “specialize in misdemeanors not in felonies,“ in small sins not in large ones. In our minds, ours are excusable sins. We are like the Pharisee who thanked God he wasn’t like the tax collector. His sins fell within a range of acceptability.
18) “Momma, I’m sorry I was so naughty”: Roy Angell once told a beautiful story about a widow during the First World War who lost her only son and her husband. She was especially bitter because her neighbor, who had five sons, lost none of them. One night while this woman’s grief was so terribly severe, she had a dream. An angel stood before her and said, “You might have your son back again for ten minutes. What ten minutes would you choose? Would you have him back as a little baby, a dirty-faced little boy, a schoolboy just starting to school, a student just completing high school, or as the young soldier who marched off so bravely to war?” The mother thought a few minutes and then, in her dream, told the angel she would choose none of those times. “Let me have him back,” she said, “when as a little boy, in a moment of anger, he doubled up his fists and shook them at me and said, ’I hate you! I hate you!” Continuing to address the angel, she said: “In a little while his anger subsided and he came back to me, his dirty little face stained with tears, and put his arms around me. He said, ‘Momma, I’m sorry I was so naughty. I promise never to be bad again and I love you with all my heart.’ Let me have him back then,” the mother sobbed. “I never loved him more than at that moment when he changed his attitude and came back to me.” [Roy Angell, Shields of Brass, (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1965), pp. 70]. Jesus said that this is how God feels about each of us.
19) “Reestablish your Faith.” Bruce Kimball was a 1984 Silver Medalist in the Olympics. Bruce was involved in an accident sometime back. We are told he was intoxicated at the time. Two people were killed. Bruce withdrew from life because of that tragedy. He was depressed. He secluded himself in a trailer home with his father. He had the shades drawn. He turned inward. He was feeling sorry for himself. He could not sleep at night. Just to pass time he would sit and watch television all night long until he couldn’t hold his eyes open any longer. He would fall asleep from emotional as well as physical exhaustion. A close friend came to see him. Bruce said, “I don’t want to see anybody. I don’t want to talk to anybody.” This friend walked in anyway, looked at Bruce and said three words, “Reestablish your Faith.” That’s all he said, “Reestablish your Faith.” Through those words Bruce Kimball took stock of his life and became a changed man. (As told by Motivational Speaker, Les Brown)
20) Tiger Woods, “I thought, ‘I can use whatever I have, to get whatever I want.’ Today, I realized that this is a wrong philosophy. I messed up my life. I want to return to my religion.”
21) “Why can’t you be reconciled to one another?” Elsa Joseph was a Jewish woman who was cut off from her two children, both girls, during the Second World War. Years later, she discovered that both of her daughters had been gassed at Auschwitz. A former concert violinist, Elsa’s response to this tragic news was to pick up her violin and go and play it in Germany. And there in the halls of the homeland of her children’s murderers, she played her violin and told her story that cried out to Heaven for vengeance. But she did not seek vengeance. She spoke of the world’s deep need for reconciliation and forgiveness, without which it was tearing itself apart. “If I, a Jewish mother, can forgive what happened,” she said to her audiences not only in Germany, but in Northern Ireland and in Lebanon and in Israel, “then why can you not sink your differences and be reconciled to one another?” In today’s Scripture lessons an overwhelmingly merciful, compassionate, and forgiving God challenges us with the same question. (Homily Outlines).
23) Forgive and be forgiven: Some time ago a woman wrote a letter to Ann Landers describing the terrible relationship that once existed between her and her brother. It took the death of their father to get her to forgive him and to treat him as a brother again. Sometime after their reconciliation, her brother had a heart attack and died in her arms. She ends her letter with this moving paragraph. “I am grateful for the years we had together, but I could scream when I think of all the years we missed because we were too bull-headed and short sighted to try to get along. Now he is gone, and I am heartsick.” Today’s readings are an invitation to review the relationships in our lives and to bring them into line with Jesus’ teachings. (Mark Link in Sunday Homilies; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
24) The Prodigal Father: Matt Houston is a television program about a wealthy Texan now turned private investigator. The first episode provides the background of Matt Houston’s life. His mother had died giving birth to him. His father was so depressed by her death that he gave up Matt for adoption to his closest friend. The father then drifted away, eventually becoming an alcoholic and a criminal. Many years later he found out that Matt’s life was being threatened because of a case he was working on. So, the father returned to warn him. As the story unfolds, their true relationship is revealed. At first Matt refuses to accept his real father. But when the father steps in front of a bullet aimed for his son, Matt’s eyes are opened and he realizes how much his father loves him. The story ends with the father dying in his son’s arms – forgiven by his son Matt and embraced in love. This television story is really an adaptation of today’s Gospel parable, except that the roles are reversed. In the Gospel story told by Jesus it was a son who went away and wasted his life, only to return and be forgiven by his father. In the Matt Houston story, it was the father who went away and wasted his life, only to return and be reconciled with his son. Both versions show us what a magnificent love there is between parents and children, and, consequently, how boundless God’s love is for us. In his book Rediscovering the Parables, Joachim Jeremias says that the Prodigal Son story tells us with impressive simplicity what God is like – a God of incredible goodness, grace and mercy. (Albert Cylwicki in His Word Resounds; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
25) Truth shall prevail: Brinsley Mc Namara wrote a classic story called The Valley of the Squinting Windows. It is a great read, and is available today, many decades later. He came from a very rural area of Ireland, and he was well known because his father was a teacher in the local school. When the story was published, everybody in that small village recognized himself or herself among the characters of the story. This led to public outrage in McNamara’s hometown, while the rest of the country was avidly reading the book! The book was burned in public, his family had to leave town, and, to this day, his name still evokes strong reactions among many of the people of that town. What he wrote was too close to the bone. If he had written a book about the people of some other town, he probably would have been hailed as the local literary hero. To this day none of his descendants would dare return to their roots in that town. That town did, in a symbolic way, take McNamara outside the town, and throw him over a cliff. (Jack McArdle in And that’s the Gospel Truth; quoted by Fr. Botelho).
26) Why not forgive him?” The story is told about a soldier during combat. He was drinking heavily and was a constant menace to his comrades. His commanding officer had had him on the carpet several times. But on this occasion, he was ready to throw the book at him. Said the colonel to his lieutenant, “I have given him every break.” The officer responded, “Sir, you have punished him and it hasn’t worked. Why not forgive him?” The colonel accepted the advice. To the soldier he said, “I have punished you many times. Punishment has not worked. This time I am going to forgive you. Your many offences will be removed from your personnel folder.” The soldier, who had expected a court martial, broke down and wept. More to the point, he never drank again. (Fr. Tony Kayala) L/19
