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Gospel Reflection for Saturday, March 21, 2025
The week ends with the parable of the prodigal son. For those who think of conversion as a personal and difficult task, where one must confront themselves, carefully examine their life, purify their intentions, and make firm resolutions to begin a change that radically transforms their attitudes and actions, this parable tells a surprisingly different story.
To begin with, the younger son, the one who leaves after asking for and receiving his share of the inheritance, is one of the most self-centered characters in the Bible. In reality, he only thinks about living well. The rest seems to matter little to him. He takes his inheritance to live large. And when he returns to his father’s house, it’s not out of filial love but because he’s hungry and remembers that his father’s hired workers have enough to eat every day. His only interest is living well, as comfortably as possible. His father and family don’t seem to matter to him. He’s focused on himself.
Yet, what the parable emphasizes is precisely that, even with all these flaws, even with the father being fully aware of his son’s selfishness, he waits for him patiently and longs to have him at the table. The father has only one intention and desire: to gather his family around the table. The son’s motivations seem to matter little to him. Or perhaps, in a slightly idealistic way, he thinks that with time and good food, the lost son will learn where true life, true abundance, is found. But whether the son realizes this or not is not a condition for him to sit at the table. The first thing is to welcome him, embrace him, prepare the feast, and seat him at the table. The rest, if it comes, will come later. What matters most is that he feels the loving embrace of his father. Whether he fully understands what it means or not seems unimportant to the father.
May we come to understand this love of the Father, which is greater than anything we can imagine, a love that sets no conditions, that is patient with us, and gives us all the time we need to comprehend it, embrace it, live it, and be grateful for it.