March 14, 2010 Fourth Sunday of Lent
Reading I Jos 5:9a, 10-12
The LORD said to Joshua,
“Today I have removed the reproach of Egypt from you.”
While the Israelites were encamped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho,
they celebrated the Passover
on the evening of the fourteenth of the month.
On the day after the Passover,
they ate of the produce of the land
in the form of unleavened cakes and parched grain.
On that same day after the Passover,
on which they ate of the produce of the land, the manna ceased.
No longer was there manna for the Israelites,
who that year ate of the yield of the land of Canaan.
Reading II 2 Cor 5:17-21
Brothers and sisters:
Whoever is in Christ is a new creation:
the old things have passed away;
behold, new things have come.
And all this is from God,
who has reconciled us to himself through Christ
and given us the ministry of reconciliation,
namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,
not counting their trespasses against them
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
So we are ambassadors for Christ,
as if God were appealing through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
Gospel Lk 15:1-3, 11-32
Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,
but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
So to them Jesus addressed this parable:
“A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father,
‘Father give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’
So the father divided the property between them.
After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings
and set off to a distant country
where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.
When he had freely spent everything,
a severe famine struck that country,
and he found himself in dire need.
So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens
who sent him to his farm to tend the swine.
And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed,
but nobody gave him any.
Coming to his senses he thought,
‘How many of my father’s hired workers
have more than enough food to eat,
but here am I, dying from hunger.
I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him,
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
I no longer deserve to be called your son;
treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”’
So he got up and went back to his father.
While he was still a long way off,
his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion.
He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.
His son said to him,
‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you;
I no longer deserve to be called your son.’
But his father ordered his servants,
‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him;
put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Take the fattened calf and slaughter it.
Then let us celebrate with a feast,
because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again;
he was lost, and has been found.’
Then the celebration began.
Now the older son had been out in the field
and, on his way back, as he neared the house,
he heard the sound of music and dancing.
He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean.
The servant said to him,
‘Your brother has returned
and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf
because he has him back safe and sound.’
He became angry,
and when he refused to enter the house,
his father came out and pleaded with him.
He said to his father in reply,
‘Look, all these years I served you
and not once did I disobey your orders;
yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends.
But when your son returns
who swallowed up your property with prostitutes,
for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’
He said to him,
‘My son, you are here with me always;
everything I have is yours.
But now we must celebrate and rejoice,
because your brother was dead and has come to life again;
he was lost and has been found.’”
…………………………
The final sentence of today’s Gospel begins “now we must celebrate and rejoice.”
Today is “rejoice” Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, though Lent is not exactly a rejoicing season. The Church places this “Be Happy” Sunday in the middle of Lent to be sure we have the correct perspective.
Saint Paul tells us in the second reading: “Whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.”
We should be happy the old things have passed away; We have been made something new, fresh and lean in Christ. Christ reminds us later in St Luke’s Gospel “Fear Not. It has pleased the Father to give you the Kingdom.”
And that is what today’s long Gospel is all about, celebrating and rejoicing.
But the Gospel starts with a low level conflict, with that one thing which St. Benedict in his rule excoriates again and again: It says “Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain.” They were grumbling and murmuring.
So Jesus tells them and us a story, about sibling rivalry, to which we can usually relate from our childhood.
There are two sons, one responsible, earnest and hardworking. The other is less responsible, who dreams of greener pastures and good times. He is undoubtedly the younger son, and I identify with him; my brothers and sisters never tired of telling me how spoiled I was as the youngest, how I got away with things they never did. And from what happens next, we know he was spoiled.
This young son does something even we think is out of bounds. He says : “Dad, give me now whatever you’re planning to leave me in your will. I don’t want to wait for you to die. I want to enjoy it now.”
I could just imagine what my father would have done if I had asked that.
Amazingly, the Father accedes to this request and gives him his inheritance. And so away from the farm goes the young son, off to the big city. Surely the Father knew what was going to happen.
Well, that is how God is as a Father. He gives us what we want and allows us to learn the hard way. You want it all now ? You want heaven now ? OK. You got it. Here it is. A lot of people do make that choice….for status, money, sex, power, fame, property, and so on. And the ultimate result is misery, unhappiness because NOW is just that, and it doesn’t last. It’s just for a moment.
They have done studies on the lucky winners of mega million dollar lotteries.What they found is that over time the winners lives were ruined by this instant wealth. Not only did marriages and friendships end, but the money was wasted away. We human beings don’t handle too good fortune very well. Adversity, at least hard work, seems to be good for us.
The young son learns this the hard way, and so fully willing to pay the price in humiliation and starting at the bottom, he sets out for his Father and his home. This we call conversion or repentance.
But look at the older brother, the responsible son. He has an unseen but radical problem which his brother’s return brings to the surface.
Although he’s been behaving perfectly for all these years, he shows a bitter and resentful attitude. He becomes angry….at the Father. All these years he’s been slaving away; he never even had a birthday party. He has never celebrated, only worked. And so now he thinks: “Father always loved him more than me.” Deep down he wanted to enjoy his inheritance too, and now he sees that his brother is getting away with it.
Well, the Father is lavish in his response to the young son’s repentance and return. While the son was still a LONG way off it says, he runs out to meet him, and restores to him all his rights and privileges as a son.
The Father rejoices and throws a party. The returned son has received far more than he expected. He has learned how and why he should appreciate his Father. He’s home to stay.
What happens to the older responsible son ? We don’t know how the story ends. Does he come to his senses and join in the feast, which is a metaphor for the happy eternity of heaven, or - Does he willfully stay outside, stewing in his own anger and bitterness ? He has been so close to it for so long; will he now lose out ?
The younger Son rejected the Father and his estate and took himself far away from it, but learns its value and returns, throwing himself upon the Father’s love and mercy.
The other Son takes the Fathers love and estate for granted. He has no concept of mercy. He doesn’t yet know the Father or understand him when his love overflows to his brother. He resents it, and chooses…for a while at least…to stay outside the feast.
All this time his brother was away, he should have been enjoying and basking in the father’s love. All that the Father had was his. He should have been celebrating his good fortune. All he had to do was ask for a goat or the fattened calf, and it would have been his. But it never occurred to him, because he hadn’t learned to love.
God gives us what we want. If we choose God and stick with him, we’ll have it all…the feast, the estate, the kingdom of heaven…And we can enjoy it even now if we are motivated by love, and not by fear or self interest. And if we wander off from God for one reason or another, we can still have it all, if we realize our mistakes and come back to Him.
This is what our Gospel is telling us today, the Good News. God does not want to punish; God wants to throw parties ! For us !
If you read the Gospels, you see that Jesus spent a lot of time at banquets and parties. He enjoyed people and celebrations. And Jesus told his apostles…If you see me, you are seeing the Father. The way I am, He is.
Now you and I are like both of these sons.
We are baptized, and so we are new creations, as Saint Paul tells the Corinthians in his letter. All that the Father has is ours. But we don’t act like it very much.
We often act like the young son who wastes so much of what he was given, his time, his talent and treasure. We often act the older son who resents it when a person less holy gets favored or lucky.
We don’t celebrate enough; we worry too much about punishment and avoiding it or else we don’t take the Father’s rules seriously enough. It’s so hard for us to get it right.
God knows that. Jesus knows that. That is why it’s a great idea to celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation during Lent.
God knows it’s hard for us to get it right. He just wants us to keep trying and celebrating.
This is rejoice, celebrate Sunday. This Eucharist is an appetizer for the feast to end all feasts. Enjoy it; celebrate !
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