Daily reflection _ sunday, week 4, Lent


HE ROSE AND WENT TO HIS FATHER
What's worst than being separated from one's loved ones, home, and friends? The pain of separation can only be surpassed by the joy of the homecoming and reunion. We should never close the door, for God desires that none of His children should be separated from their true home and family.  
Today's Gospel is a story about life and a story that makes us stop and think every time we read it. This story has something that everybody can relate to in one way or another. Whether it is those who have gone astray in their lives and wonder if they would be welcomed back to the "father's house," or for those who have returned and were met with mercy and joy, where doors don't close. Perhaps people feel they have always been the good and dutiful ones and feel miffed when the black sheep returns to such a fine reception. The point is, at one time or another, we all find ourselves "outside the father's house." And He is eager to welcome us inside, where we belong. It's a day to ask ourselves, "What's preventing me from entering the father's house in joy, and to make haste to let go of everything that keeps me from finding my way home? Finding true reconciliation!
Our heavenly Father keeps all of His promises, even when we don't, and He is forever willing to be reconciled with us. God promises to provide for us, to feed us, and to love us. But we do need to put the ultimate trust in Him. I have a couple questions for you to think about: Have you experienced God's prodigal love - the all-consuming, forgiving love so vividly described in today's Gospel? When have you felt the most joyful in the knowledge of God's love? Saint Paul tells us that "whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away..." What part of yourself do you feel is most a part of your new creation in Jesus Christ?
The prodigal could not return to the garden of innocence, but he was welcomed and reinstated as a son. The errant son's dramatic change from grief and guilt to forgiveness and restoration expresses, in picture language, the resurrection from the dead - a rebirth to new life from spiritual death. The parable also contrasts the spirit of mercy to that of an unforgiving spirit. The father who had been wronged and hurt was forgiving, but the eldest son, who had not been wronged, was unforgiving. His lack of forgiveness turns into contempt and pride. And his resentment leads to his isolation and estrangement from the community of forgiven sinners. In this very important story, Jesus gives a vivid picture of God and Who God is. Our Father is truly kinder than us. He does not lose hope and does not give up when we stray. He rejoices in finding us and in welcoming us home. Nothing is greater than to know the joy of repentance and the restoration of relationships as sons and daughters, for we are all heirs of our heavenly Father.
In today's Responsorial Psalm we pray: "Taste and see the goodness of the Lord. When the poor one called out, the Lord heard, and from all his distress He saved him" (Ps 34:9a; Ps 34:6). I would like to finish with a reflection written by St. Peter Chrysologus: "'He rose and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him.' That Father saw, he, 'who dwells on high; and looks down on the low things, and the high he knows afar off. His father saw him.' The father saw him, in such a way that the son could also behold his father. The father's countenance illumined the face of the approaching son in such a way that all the dark aspect was dispelled which his guilt had previously cast about it."
God's goodness is tangible: Taste and see!