Gospel Reflection 2021/2022

The greatest tragedy is the ETERNAL SEPARATION WITH GOD in hell.

On the 3^rd Sunday of Lent (last Sunday), our Lord Jesus called us to repentance [cf. Lk 13: 1-5] and told us the Parable of the Barren Fig Tree [cf. Lk 13: 6-9]. In doing so, He restored the true image of GOD WHO IS GOOD AND CANNOT DESIRE EVIL. At the same time, He also warned us that even though ‘the Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love’ [Ps 145: 8], we must hasten – with great sense of urgency – to repent and change our crooked ways. “Unless you repent you will all perish as they did!” [Lk 13: 5] And that is the greatest tragedy of all: the ETERNAL SEPARATION WITH GOD in hell!

The Parable of the Prodigal Son.

And on this 4^th Sunday of Lent, the Pharisees and scribes are complaining about Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners. In response to their jealousy, Jesus tells them one of the most well-known parables of all time: the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

(1) The younger son, i.e., the tax collectors and sinners.

As the Parable is fondly known as the Parable of the Prodigal Son, we naturally direct our focus on the younger son, who while his Father was still alive and kicking, demanded his share of inheritance, went away to a foreign land, squandered everything he had on a life of debauchery. He thought he could live without his Father.

Look at the ‘hell’ of a mess the younger son got himself into: he had squandered everything (human tragedy); a severe famine struck (natural tragedy); and he was starving, suffering and in great sorrows.

In many ways, are we not like the younger son? We are blessed by God abundantly. Yet, intoxicated by our own arrogance, we think that all good things come from our own merits, we think we are Gods and we are able to live without Him! In doing so, we are choosing hell over God!

Later, the younger son came to his senses, he repented, left the foreign land, and embarked on a journey of conversion back to his Father. As Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has pointed out [The CTS New Missal, 2012], “They (the tragedies) must be opportunities for reflection, in order to overcome the illusion of being able to live without God, and to reinforce, with the Lord’s help, the commitment to change our way of life.”

Did the younger son change his crooked ways? Yes, he did. He picked himself up, left the foreign land, and returned to the Father. Whenever we are sinking into sin and evil, we need to – with God’s help – pick ourselves up, turn away from sin, and return to the Father. Even though our repentance and conversion might be half-hearted, half-way and half-baked, God the merciful Father runs to meet us and embrace us where we are.

(2) The older son, i.e., the Pharisees and scribes.

When the older son was returning from his labour in the field, the news of his younger brother being welcomed back to the household reached his ears. He became so jealous, indignant and furious that he refused to enter the Father’s house. He thought that he had been unfairly treated. He thought that the Father owed him for his many years of service and obedience. Even though the older son was with his Father all this while, he had not known the Father’s loving heart.

Like the older son and the Pharisees and the scribes, perhaps we have been coming for Mass, frequenting the Sacraments, consistent in our daily prayers, and serving in various ministries, yet our hearts could be far from God – we do not know Him and we do not know His loving heart!

We think we are good, holy, just and righteous – never in need of God’s forgiveness. And because we are so good and worthy, God always owes us something. We judge, label and discriminate others. Since we are not motivated by God’s love and joy, our hearts are filled with anger, resentment and hatred. Pope Francis [Angelus, 15 Sep 2013] explains that, “If in our heart there is no mercy, no joy of forgiveness, we are not in communion with God, even if we observe all of His precepts, for it is love that saves, not the practice of precepts alone.” Truth be told, we need repentance and conversion as much as the younger son.

(3) The real focus: the merciful Father.

The real focus of the Parable this Sunday should be on the merciful Father: the Father who excludes no one, the Father who throws nobody away, and the Father who seeks out everyone. Whether we are the younger son or the older son, it is the Father’s desire that all His children should share in His merciful love and outpouring joy.

And Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has this to say [The CTS New Missal, 2012]:

“This passage of St Luke constitutes one of the peaks of spirituality and literature of all time. After Jesus has told us of the merciful Father, things are no longer as they were before. We now know God; He is our Father who out of love created us to be free and endowed us with a conscience, who suffers when we get lost and rejoices when we return. The two sons represent two immature ways of relating to God: rebellion and childish obedience. Both these forms are surmounted through the experience of mercy. Only by experiencing forgiveness, by recognizing one is loved with a freely given love, a love greater than our wretchedness but also than our merits, do we finally enter into a truly filial and free relationship with God.”

Let our fervent prayer be:

“Lord Jesus Christ, let my heart always be motivated by Your love and Your joy.”

Let us also pray with and pray for Ukraine that:

“The weapons of war be silenced, the evil of the aggressors be stopped, and those who hold the fate of the world in their hands may spare us from the horror and madness of war.”