OPENING PRAYER
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Lord, help me to be ever aware of the commandment to love you and love my neighbor as myself. Help me to be a merciful neighbor, even when it is inconvenient, when time is short or other responsibilities loom. Help me to remember the Good Samaritan and Jesus’ simple message: Go and do likewise. Amen. (Catholic Health Association)
READINGS FOR THE WEEK OF MARCH 30, 2025
Psalm 32 (NIV)
Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the LORD does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin. Therefore, let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found; surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them. You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. Many are the woes of the wicked, but the LORD’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him. Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
The Gospel: Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 (NIV)
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable: Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. “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. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So 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. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “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. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But 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. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
MEDITATIONS
COMING CLEAN WITH OURSELVES: LUKE 15:1-3, 11-32
(Published by Michael K. Marsh on March 27, 2022)
Several years ago I was teaching a class about today’s gospel, the Parable of the Prodigal Son. As soon as class was finished a man who had been sitting in the back of the room started coming toward me. I could tell he was upset. He was probably in his mid-seventies and had been very attentive during class but hadn’t said anything.
What about the bath?
“What about the bath?” he demanded. “You didn’t say anything about the bath. Why didn’t you talk about the bath?” I told him I didn’t understand what he was talking about. He became more agitated and said, “You know where that kid had been!” “Yes,” I said, “in the pig pens of the distant country.” “And you know what he smelled like and what was on him.” “Pig poop,” I said kiddingly. He did not think that was funny. And then he said, “He was dirty and smelly. The father would never hug him, kiss him, or put a robe on him until he first had a bath. Why didn’t you talk about the bath?”
I told him that a bath was not part of the story but he didn’t believe me, so we read the story together. When we got to the end he started weeping. He said, “All my life I thought this story said that he had to take a bath before he could go home.” I asked him, “And have you, all your life, been trying to get clean enough to go home?” He nodded in silence as tears ran down his face.
I think we often hear this story as one about good and bad, right and wrong. The younger son is often judged and labeled the bad son for what he did, a kid who needs to clean up his act. That’s how this gentleman in the class saw him. And that’s how the older son in the parable sees him. But what strikes me is that’s not how the father sees him. Instead of judging and labelling him as bad or wrong he says, “He was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!”
What if we saw ourselves and one another like that instead of labelling and judging? Haven’t there been times when you felt dead, lifeless, absent from your own life? Haven’t there been times when you were lost and you couldn’t make sense of your life, who you were, or where you were going? And haven’t you sometimes done some crazy things trying to figure it all out?
TRUSTING LOVE: LUKE 15:1-3, 11-32
(Published by Michael K. Marsh on March 16, 2010)
I wonder if the younger son was surprised when his father gave him his inheritance. This is not like asking for an advance on allowance. The son’s request has real significance. The son is saying to his father, “You are dead to me. I don’t need you. I just want your stuff.” The son has separated himself from his father. Their relationship is now different. The son has rejected and dishonored not only his father but the entire village. He has hurt, shamed, and disowned them. Every resident of the village now stands as a reason the son cannot return. If he did return he would be met with anger. He would be in danger. Everyone – the son, his brother, the slaves and hired-hands, and all the villagers – thought the son was on a one-way trip. Everyone, that is, except the father. Throughout all this the father is silent. He does not ask questions and why the son is leaving or where he is going. He does not argue or get angry.
He does not ground his son or put him on restriction. He simply divided his property between the two sons. Many years ago I decided I had to get away. I had done something wrong. I had been bad and I needed to leave. There was no other way. So with pen and paper in hand I went to my dad and asked, “How do you spell running?” “R,u,n,n,i,n,g.”
“Ok, thanks. How do spell away?” “A,w,a,y.” I finished my note and I was off to the distant country. After all that is what the bad sons do – or so we have come to believe.
For so long we have heard and understood this story as one about sin. We hold the two sons up as examples. The younger son, the bad son, runs away and does even worse things. The older son, the good son, was always at home. He never disobeyed. The implication is obvious. Be the obedient slave-like child to your heavenly father. The difficulty is that the whole good and bad dichotomy rarely transforms lives. Love, however, can and does transform lives.
Be a good obedient child. Is that really all this story says? Is this story really even about the sons? Maybe this story is more about the father than it is about the sons. Maybe this story is about love and grace more than it is about sin. Luke introduces the story by saying, “There was a man.” From the beginning the focus is on the father. Although we do hear about the son’s journey, it is always in relation to the father. The father is the one who even made it possible for the son to leave. To the extent that this is about the sons it is primarily about the sons as recipients of the father’s love. The father’s love is so strong and so big that it does not possess the other; but is willing to let go. His love is so strong and so big that it makes no demands but is willing to wait patiently. It is a love that forgives and welcomes home. His love will not rescue us out of or stop us from going to the distant country. Instead it redeems the time spent and the life lived in that place. That is good news for those of us who travel to the distant country; and we all go there at some point. Some write notes and run away from home, some ask for and squander their inheritance, and some, like the older son, fume in silent resentment. Sorrow, grief, and loss take some to the distant country while fear, shame, embarrassment take others there. Some will travel to the distant country by way of addictions and self-destructive behavior. For others the journey of guilt, self-condemnation or even self-hated ends in the distant country.
How ever we get there, the distant country is that place in which we are lost, dead, and hungry. In the distant country we are lost to ourselves, empty of meaning, and starving for life, love, and hope. We are just not ourselves in the distant county, at least not our true selves. Life stinks in the distant country. That is the grace of the distant country. While we may go there we eventually come to ourselves and discover that it is not a place we want to stay. Regardless of why we go there, the things we have done there, or the amount of time spent in the distant country we can always go home. If we go home we will have to face the villagers. We will meet all those many voices that live within us. “You don’t really think you could go home do you? After what you have done? They don’t want you there. You are covered in pig stink. They won’t take you back. You aren’t worthy. You never were.” The only way home, it seems, is to deny that we are our father’s children. I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.” The father, however, knows that love is the real way home. That is why the father runs to meet his son. He is there to protect him from the villagers, to see him safely home. The father stands between his son and the villagers. The best robe. Sandals. A ring. The banquet. Over and over the father recommits himself to this runaway-come-home.
Where are you? Leaving home? The father offers freedom and you are loved. In the pig pens of life? The father waits patiently and you are loved. Coming home? The father will protect you and you are loved. Finally home? The father has prepared you a banquet and you are loved. It matters not where we are in this journey. The father always trusts his love for his children more than he does the words, decisions, and actions of his children. How can we do anything less?
CHRISTIAN POEM
THE GOOD SAMARITAN
(by Shelley Spiers)
Someone came to Jesus;
It was a very clever man.
He said, “I want to live forever,
can you tell me how I can?
Jesus said, “Think of the law.
What does it say to do?”
The man replied, “It says love God
and love your neighbor too.”
Jesus told the man that he
had got the answer right:
Love God and others perfectly
and have eternal life.
The man knew what the law required
and may have read it every day
but he couldn’t love so perfectly
for sin got in the way.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come,
thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the
kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
BLESSING
May God the Father prepare your journey,
Jesus the Son guide your footsteps,
The Spirit of Life strengthen your body,
The Three in One watch over you,
on every road that you may follow. Amen.
Respectfully submitted by Lori Toro
Verger, Chaplain Corp, OTJ
Translation assistance by Archbishop Raul E. Toro, Jr
Chaplain Corp, OTJ
