Grace under fire
Though the Church is under attack on so many different fronts, you’d get the impression that it was down for the count.
Trouble is, though, for many people, when they have screwed up and made a damned mess of their world, they turn to the only place they have left; the Creator.
Todays gospel was the Prodigal Son. The telling part of it is when the son comes home, willing to be treated as a servant because he knows he has sinned and he wants to be home where he can at least eat:
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.’
As we know, the Father welcomes him back and even bestows blessings upon him. This is what can happen to us if we choose to return to our faith.
Those of us who remained behind have to learn the lesson of the older brother; he groused because he Never got a dinner. The Father reminded him he was always there, and always had everything to share. In order to give the wayward reason to return, there has to be that grace.
Remember that today. It’s good advice.
I see the value of the point of the story to be that it’s never too late to come back, but I’ve always noticed how the stay at home son does get the short shrift. He minds the ranch, and so forgoes all sorts of partying, romance, and high-life with his self-denial to do his father’s will, and he can’t even have a calf to cook with his friends. I’m sure he’d like to sow his wild oats and kick up a storm too, but would rather help his father, and now feels like the house n***er instead of a valued and appreciated son.
And I’ve noticed the thread in the Gospels where Jesus enjoys the company of the ne’er do wells, and has contempt for those who try to be devout and stay the course. Then there’s Matthew 7:21-23 and Luke 15:7. It’s like the girl who swears she wants a decent guy, but then gives her heart to the drug addicted felon while the dude with the job and the house gets her snark. I get that vibe from the Man Upstairs when I read his story, and sometimes wonder if I should be more like Walter White in Breaking Bad, or out chasing naked chicks at Burning Man or Hedonism II, than the tight ass conservative who internalized the nun with the ruler over me in grade school. At least I’d have a dinner.
So , you missed the point that you get a dinner every day?
As I recall the story the dad told the oldest all I have is yours.
The youngest got his full part of the inheritance as the estate stood at that point one can only assume the dad continued to do well, which the older son gets full measure of.
Yes, the story is mostly about grace.
But like most of Jesus’s stories, they have many meanings.
I take the younger son to be the Gentiles and the older, the Jews.
Perhaps a multiple purposed parable.
mts, Jesus was hard on the self-righteous, those who didn’t see themselves needing a savior, not the devout.
Thanks for the important reminder , Og.