Posted on 09/11/2022 2:48:06 AM PDT by Cronos
I don’t think we can definitely know for sure that the elder son came around (nor Jonah, for that matter). In fact it seems to defeat the purpose of Jesus ending the parable the way he did. We are supposed to be left wondering if he realized his fathers love and welcomed his brother, or he remained stuck in his self-righteousness and closed-heartedness. And from there we are to look into our own hearts to see where they stand.
Most of the sermons I’ve heard don’t focus on the Pharisees or listeners at all, but aspects of the two sons.
Yes. We are judged at the end of our lives on the sum total of how we lived, and on repentance at the end. It is wrong to make judgment of people until hey had a chance of repentance.
Same here, but it's an awful long Gospel reading so it's understandable that a homilist will have to leave a lot of details unsaid to focus on other things. That's why it's important that Catholics prepare themselves for the mass readings ahead of time by being good students and pray-ers of the Bible. The Bible study group I lead does exactly that and people tell me it is transformative for how they understand the readings each week.
Very interesting. I’ve been thinking about what you’ve written. I think like my priest you pass the middle a bit quickly to get to the end and I agree with what you wrote. We understand that the defect being shown in the elder son is a lack of love.
I think your example of Matthew 23 shows that Jesus does not make a distinction between the law and love. He calls out leaders who like luxury and prestige and who are false men of God.
The Pharisees of Luke 15 are different.
They are like the elder son. They are the sheep who never strayed and the coins which weren’t lost. Their problem is that they’ve missed the point of the law. Jesus is not chastising them. He seems more to be pointing out that happiness is within their reach.
“My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours. “
I was taught that being in the presence of the father is what being saved is.
Perhaps we are to assume the elder brother does go into the banquet for the sake of his father. He is already someone who does the right thing by habit.
Thank you for your kind replys. You made me realize that perhaps the reason I always hear the homilies from one certain perspective (the defective Pharisees) is that our priest used to teach scripture at the seminary. Probably every priest around here took that class from him.
no worries. I wonder if the reason I haven’t heard that angle is that for the past 12 odd years I’ve been going for Polish mass (couldn’t stand the informality in the one english speaking parish in Warsaw) and perhaps they’re a bit iffy about saying anything about Jewish people
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