Daily Mass Gospel Reflection- The Prodigal Gift

Word on Fire Ministry ^ | 03.11.23 | Bishop Robert Barron

[MurphsLaw]

SECOND SATURDAY OF LENT
Luke 15:1-3, Luke 15:11-32

Friends, at the core of today’s Gospel is a portrait of our God,
who is prodigal. The father stands for the God whose very nature is to give,
the God who simply is love.
And the younger son stands for all of us sinners
who tend to misunderstand how to access the divine love.

Since God exists only in gift form, his life,
even in principle, cannot become a possession.
Instead, it is “had” only on the fly,
only in the measure that it is given away.
When we cling to it, it disappears,
according to a kind of spiritual physics.

The Greek that lies behind “distant country” in the parable is chora makra;
that means, literally, “the great emptiness.”
Trying to turn the divine gift into the ego’s possession
necessarily results in nothing, nonbeing, the void.
St. John Paul II formulated the principle here as “the law of the gift”—
that your being increases inasmuch as you give it away.
If clinging and possessing are the marks of the chora makra,
then the law of the gift is the defining dynamic of the father’s house,
where the robe and the ring and the fatted calf are on permanent offer.

[MurphsLaw]

Lk 15:1-3, 11-32

+++ Tax collectors and sinners were
all drawing near to listen to Jesus,
but the Pharisees and scribes
began to complain, saying,
"This man welcomes sinners and
eats with them."
So to them Jesus addressed this parable.
"A man had two sons, and the
younger son said to his father,
'Father, give me the share of
your estate that should come to me.'
So the father divided the
property between them.
After a few days, the younger
son collected all his belongings
and set off to a distant country
where he squandered his
inheritance on a life of dissipation.
When he had freely spent everything,
a severe famine struck that country,
and he found himself in dire need.
So he hired himself out to one
of the local citizens
who sent him to his farm to tend the swine.
And he longed to eat his fill of
the pods on which the swine fed,
but nobody gave him any.
Coming to his senses he thought,
'How many of my father's hired workers
have more than enough food to eat,
but here am I,
dying from hunger.
I shall get up and go to my
father and I shall say to him,
"Father, I have sinned against
heaven and against you.
I no longer deserve
to be called your son;
treat me as you would treat one
of your hired workers."'
So he got up and went back to
his father.
While he was still a long way off,
his father caught sight of him,
and was filled with compassion.
He ran to his son,
embraced him and kissed him.
His son said to him,
'Father, I have sinned against
heaven and against you;
I no longer deserve to be called your son.'
But his father ordered his servants,
'Quickly, bring the finest robe
and put it on him;
put a ring on his finger and
sandals on his feet.
Take the fattened calf and
slaughter it.
Then let us celebrate with a feast,
because this son of mine was
dead, and has come to life again;
he was lost, and has been found.' Then the celebration began.
Now the older son had been out
in the field
and, on his way back, as he
neared the house,
he heard the sound of music and dancing.
He called one of the servants
and asked what this might mean.
The servant said to him,
'Your brother has returned
and your father has slaughtered
the fattened calf
because he has him back safe and sound.'
He became angry,
and when he refused to enter the house,
his father came out and pleaded
with him.
He said to his father in reply, and not once did I disobey your orders;
yet you never gave me even a
young goat to feast on with my friends.
But when your son returns
who swallowed up your property
with prostitutes,
for him you slaughter the
fattened calf.'
He said to him,
'My son, you are here with me always;
everything I have is yours.
But now we must celebrate and rejoice,
because your brother was dead
and has come to life again;
he was lost and has been found.'"+++