Homily for 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Luke 15:1-32
by Fr. Azam Vianney Mansha, CJM - STL
Today’s Gospel passage is made up of three parables: “The Lost Coin,” “The Lost Sheep” and “The Lost Son.” It has three themes: LOST, FOUND and CELEBRATION. Indeed, each theme invites us to experience the MERCY OF THE LORD. Among the three parables, the last one – “The Parable of the Prodigal Son,” is well received by the community of the faithful. Indeed, many scholars have agreed to say that it recapitulates the whole ministry of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke.
Often, I propose to my students to re-visit our Christian theology and understanding because when we hear the first verse of that parable (“One man had two sons . . . ”), immediately, a bell rings in our minds and we say, “This is ‘The Parable of the Prodigal Son!’” However, here’s the thing: if we call this parable “The Parable of the Prodigal Son,” we are already keeping the elder son or elder brother out of the picture. On the other hand, If I say that this parable has nothing to do with the prodigal son, you will be totally taken aback!!!
So, what is this parable all about? I invite each one of you to please read this parable in silence whenever you have some time during the week, and you will observe that this parable is all about the MERCIFUL FATHER.
The first thing that you will notice is the younger son approaching his father and demanding his share. In the Hebrew tradition, inheritance is only shared among the siblings when the parents have died. In other words, the younger son approached his father and practically said, “I do not care if you die today or tomorrow. Just give me my share!” Note the silence of the Father; he did not say anything, but simply divided the inheritance and gave his younger son his share.
The second thing that you will notice is how the younger son wasted everything away, then returned to find a job at his father’s house. Note that it was not the younger son who ran to ask for forgiveness, but it was the father who ran and embraced his younger son. In the Hebrew tradition, an old man running in public is considered as an act of shame, but the father did it anyway.
Third and the last, the elder brother did not want to join the celebration for the younger brother’s return. If you’ll remember, the younger brother did not ask for an apology from his elder brother for whatever happened in the past. It was the father who went out and started convincing the elder brother to celebrate with them.
Putting together all these actions of the father, we can say that it is the parable of the merciful father who approaches us and has the willingness to share with us even though we have hurt him. We can say that it is the parable of the merciful father who runs towards us to embrace us. We can say that it is the parable of the merciful father who is willing to come out of the feast in order to bring us in to join the celebration.
Is it not “The Parable of the Merciful Father?” Now one may ask, “What is mercy?” or “What does mercy look like?” St. Augustine of Hippo, Church Father and Doctor of the Church, wonderfully describes MERCY. According to him:
Mercy has the hands to help others. Mercy has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. Mercy has eyes to see misery and want. Mercy has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men [& women].
I was born in a Catholic family where Sunday Mass and the Holy Rosary are parts of faith formation. During college life, I became friends with some of our Christian brothers and sisters. They asked me many questions about Mary, the Mother of Jesus, Church traditions and other biblical questions. To tell you the truth, I did not know any of the answers and there was no way of asking anyone. As a result of these unanswered questions, I lost my Catholic Christian belief and became rebellious against the Church, to Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and to other Catholic practices. Even though I was going to church, reciting my daily Rosary and performing other catholic practices, in my heart, I did not believe in any of them.
During this time when I was so lost and was going through a faith crisis, God called me to enter the seminary. If you ask me, “Why did you enter the seminary?” My reply would be, “I do not know WHY!!!” I can only say that like St. Augustine of Hippo, “my heart was restless” and it wanted to rest in the Lord. As I went through my priestly formation in the seminary, a journey of God’s mercy began in my life. I started experiencing the richness of the catholic traditions and found that every tradition has its Biblical foundation. I experienced the medicine of mercy in the Eucharist, the ointment of mercy in the sacrament of confession and the powerful intercession of Mary in the Holy Rosary.
Dear sisters and brothers, we must learn to appreciate when we are lost or broken because it is through our brokenness that the Mercy of the Lord enters our lives and the grace of God works in us. As examples: when the land is broken, a tree comes out; when the clouds are broken, rain comes down; when bread on the Altar is broken, Jesus enters our lives; and when you and I are broken, the Mercy of the Lord enters our lives. Therefore, we must appreciate our brokenness of senior moments; our brokenness of loneliness; our brokenness of financial crisis; our brokenness of lukewarmness in faith. And once we have received the Mercy of the Lord, we must extend this mercy to others. As Pope Francis said, “A little bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just.” Let’s not forget the invitation of our beloved saint, John Eudes, who invites us to be missionaries of mercy, as he wrote to his priests and us:
We are the Missionaries of MERCY, sent by the Father of MERCY, to do the works of MERCY, to produce the works of MERCY and to offer to the MERCIFUL FATHER.
May Mary, the Mother of Jesus and our Mother of Mercy, intercede for us to always turn towards Jesus to see the Merciful Face of the Father who gives us blessings even though we have hurt him; who runs towards us even though we have decided to go away; and who is willing to leave His feast in order to bring us in to join the celebration.
View the recorded version of Fr. Azam’s homily here
