Homily by Dom Alex Echeandía, OSB
Belmont Abbey, 15th September 2013
We
should celebrate and rejoice because your brother here was dead and has come to
life; he was lost and is found.
When
we say that we have lost something, it can mean that we are deprived of what we
possessed before, like our car keys, for instance. We can also lose weight.
When someone wins, it implies that others lose; Germany lost the War; we can
lose a fight or a race or a football game. Often it means being deprived of
someone or something to which we are very much attached, like a wife, a
husband, a son or daughter, a boy or girlfriend.
The
Gospel of St Luke today shows us Jesus eating and drinking among tax collectors
and sinners, among those who were rejected by society; their way of life, their
behaviour had put them in the wrong. They were considered lost and were cut off
from their roots. However, Jesus has something in mind. In order to help people
to make sense of his attitude and actions towards these people, he tells three
parables. First, there is the parable of the lost sheep, then that of the lost
coin, and finally that of the lost son.
As we see in these three stories, a great joy comes when what was lost
is found.
However,
the stories are not about that which was lost but about the person who loses
them: a shepherd, a woman and a father. The shepherd and the woman search with
enthusiasm, energy and spirit till they finally find what they are looking for.
Well, let us concentrate on the well-known story about the so called “prodigal
son” because, unlike an animal or a coin, a son, as a human being, is closer to
ourselves. Rather than focusing on the figure of the son, we need to focus on
the human relationship, not only of the father with the younger son, but his
relationship with the other son as well.
At
the centre of this parable is the great concern and affection of the father,
his readiness to forgive and to welcome his son back home. He is not happy
because he found his lost son, but because his son found himself. After
squandering all he had, after rejecting any family attachment, the son had to
suffer the consequences of his actions. He thought he had achieved autonomy and
independence in his desire to be a real man; and, at first, thought that it was
necessary to leave his father's house to achieve maturity, but what he
discovered was failure and nothingness, a poor life of selfishness and vanity,
devoid of any meaning or joy. Moreover, by breaking off relations with his
father and his family in order to follow his own desires, he had committed sin.
The
story tells us that he came to his senses and decided to return to his Father's
house. This illustrates what it means to be a repentant Christian: God is inviting
him back home.
In
the first reading Moses reminds God of the covenant he made with Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob. The people of Israel are
invited to return to God and to love him as they did long ago. The second
reading shows God calling Paul to his service. Paul himself recognized how God
was patient and merciful to him.
Certainly God is like that. He calls and He remembers, but he asks us
now to remember as well and to come back home.
In
the parable, the Father was moved with pity and ran towards his son whom he saw
from afar. God is all the time calling
us home. God has the same attitude to the other brother who was angry,
resenting his Father’s overabundant love and mercy for his younger son. In his
anger, he also became lost and he cut himself off from the joy and happiness of
his father's household. He became an alien in his own home. It says that the
father “came out” to plead with him. He
needed to come back home as well, remembering what his loving father said to
him: “My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours.” The father did
not give up inviting him because he wanted to have the two children united with
him as one family. Such is the love God
shows us. He never gives up, even if we frequently give up seeking him in our
daily lives, committing many infidelities and with many failings. However, God
is persistent and, all the time, he wants to show his mercy and love to
us. Rather than giving us what we
deserve, God shows compassion towards us, towards you and me; and also towards
the older brother who is behaving badly.
This
is what God is asking us today: to come home once again. It is not enough just
to enjoy the banquet prepared by God all by ourselves, but we are asked to
invite our brother who remains wilfully outside: we are all invited to this
happy and joyful celebration. We are to be drawn, called and brought into
unity. The state of our Christian family is marked by our enthusiasm for the
sons’ return. We are given the task to call all others who ignore how much God
loves them. As we begin this Home Mission Sunday for the Church in England and
Wales, let us pray and support the work of evangelization of the people of God,
our brothers and sisters in Christ who, for different reasons or situations
have drifted away from the practice of their faith and don’t come to church
frequently, those who feel estranged, who don’t feel at home. Let us announce
to them the Good News, how important they are to God and how much-loved they
are as members of Christ's body. Let us not be content with mere words: more
important, let us show them by our example.
