Celebrating 175 years of joyful service!
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February 05, 2018
The younger son asked for what was his right, the money due him. The father divided the property between his two sons. The younger one took his money, packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, living a life of luxury, satisfying his own needs, and practicing me-ism (me first and foremost) he ended up in misery. There was a famine. The boy was facing starvation. He signed on with a man who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. This serious condition brought him to his senses. He realized he was starving to death while the hired workers on his Father’s farm sit down to three meals a day. He decided to go back to his Father, admit his failure as a son, and ask to be a hired hand. He got up and went home.
His Father was waiting, watching and longing for his son to return. When the son started his speech about his misery and mistake, the Father who wasn’t listening, simply hugged his lost Song tight and the party began.
Often the parables of Jesus can apply to me alone, or they can overwhelm us with a much broader view of the real reality called life.
Perhaps the prodigal son is a symbol of the whole world, or at least some countries.
In the bigger picture, what if the United States is the lost prodigal? Maybe we, ourselves, who are fortunate enough to be in the first world think we have the right to take everything that we believe is our due and live in extravagance and consumption, of superficiality, and make believe, of luxury and leisure, of grabbing more and more for ourselves….
When will we wake up to our situation?
When will we turn and run home to our Father?
How will I bring home others to our Father?
Just pondering….. mj (Sister Mary Joan Grisez)