Luke 15:11-32
The Parable of the Lost Son
11Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. 12The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.
13"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' 20So he got up and went to his father.
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'
22"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 24For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.
25"Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'
28"The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'
31" 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "
Acts 17:26-27
God Near Us
26From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
As I reread and study the Prodigal Son, I wonder again all that Jesus is trying to tell us, in His Parable...Is it a story about a young man going out and sowing his oats...Is it about a teenager, with youthful digressions, just wanting to leave his father and his home, he has grown tired of?...Do we have a need, a basic need to leave our father and parents to grow?...Is the story about a soul, just out looking for life, the real life?...Is it a story about a test of our true faith, the kind of faith we will actually should have in our own lives, as we study this story...The story is told over time, but maybe it is a story of my own daily struggles with my own sins in my life, and how I can drift from my Father...Can it be about, not just my faith, but my sustained faith in Him (throughout my own life), with all that goes on in our minds and in our lives?...
So maybe the story is about who we are as man and woman...Maybe we are missing out on why God hides, at least why we think He hides...St. Paul teaches us that God is really near us, and not far from us...We may think, we have to do these certain things in our lives...We want to do some things, to feel grown up, or to have more control in our lives...We may think often in our lives, we can do without God...Especially when things just come up in our lives, maybe we drift from Him (we may stop seeking Him)...After all, each of us may have a lot going on in our lives (or so we think)...In fact, we may think, I can do alright on my own -I really do not need God right now...God has these morals, these inherent rules, and commandments that I can and would like to do and live without...Maybe the story is less about God (who we think hides from us), but is about how we want to do our thing, and when we are ready for Him, then I will seek Him...Maybe it is not that God is hiding from us, but that we are not seeking Him and we are the ones absent...We have drifted away from Him in our lives with our own busyness of the life we have going on around us and in our thoughts...
Is it possible my life has gotten in the way of my LORD?...If it has, I hope, that when I am down in the rags that I am wearing and feeding the pigs, and are at a low point in my life that He is there...I would want to explain to Him that now I understand...It was me, not You that has drifted away...Now please let me do this to please You again...I am the one who left You...But our Father, does not even give the son in his stinking pig feeding clothes to explain this...He instead runs and hugs the one who has left Him...He says, quick bring out the best robe, put a ring on his finger, put sandals on his feet, and kill the fattened calf, for we can have a feast...You see God is love...
Maybe God is not hiding...Maybe it is not God who is absent, maybe we are the ones who have drifted away and are missing...Missing because what is in our lives and our minds...