It is hard
The parable of the prodigal son has been especially relevant to our family in the last few weeks. With the pending and then eventual passing of my wife Sandra’s dad, Sandra and her younger brother have had to contemplate how the engage with their other brother who lives in Australia as he has chosen to distance himself from the family over the last 20 years.
No one was quite sure why he has chosen this path, but to exclude him from all of that was happening, did not feel right. While he has made the odd call to his parents, they were few and far between. While the siblings were disappointment and to some extent did their own “distancing” it was a completely different story for the parents. Both parents held on to the hope that they will reunite with their son and often questioned what they may have done wrong and how they could remedy the situation.
In our gospel today the overarching message is one of mercy and forgiveness. God, represented by the Father, who could be described as foolish. Instead of being angry and offended by his son who left him and squandered his inheritance, the father is instead overjoyed to have him back. The message for me is that God loves us more when we can repent.
The eldest brother, who stayed behind and obeyed his father is rightfully aggrieved by the warm reception his wayward brother has received, I would be too. However, despite having obeyed his father, he never quite got to know his father that well. The words of the father “Everything I have is yours” shows that he never really knew his father. Sometimes we can be like this in our relationship with God. We may attend Mass and do all sorts of good things, but do we really know God. Lent and the Easter season is a good time to get know God better, be it through participating in Stations of the Cross, Exposition or just spending a little bit more time in prayer.
Showing mercy and forgiveness, spending time to get to know God amidst our busy lives is hard. We however have the hope that our Father loves us and will welcome us with open arms no matter what, and we should do the same for our loved ones.
Clint Ramoo, Finance Committee Chair
