4th Sunday of Lent
Cycle C
Saint Margaret Parish
March 6, 2016 4:00pm
The Lesson of the Prodigal
Today’s
is one of the most memorable of all the gospel stories.
Almost
every time I read this, something different strikes me. So here is what catches my attention this
year.
No Confession
Notice
that the younger son prepares to confess his wrongdoings to his father.
He
has squandered his inheritance. He has
wasted the money.
He
has lived a very self-indulgent lifestyle.
I think that’s the best way to put it.
Now
he comes to his senses. He wants to come
back home.
Apparently
he trusts that his father will welcome him and take him back. He trusts his father.
So
he prepares his confession of his wrongdoings, his waywardness, his
sinfulness. But, he never really has to
confess.
His
father sees him coming and runs out to welcome him. As soon as the son says a few words, the
father interrupts him.
The
father welcomes him unequivocally and unconditionally. He is carried away with happiness.
In
fact, the father never even uses the word “forgive.” It is simply implied in his actions.
The Penitential Act
I see
a parallel here to the beginning of Mass.
We
begin Mass with what we call a Penitential Act. Like the prodigal or younger son in the story,
we too have been wayward and sinful in some ways, maybe self-indulgent.
Or
like the older son in the story, maybe we have been kind of
self-righteous. Maybe we have looked
down at others as undeserving or as less than we are.
Again,
something like the prodigal son, we make no confession here at Mass but there
is forgiveness. In fact, maybe we have
this Penitential Act at the beginning of Mass because it reminds us that the Eucharist
itself is reconciling.
The
Eucharist makes present again, in a sacramental way, Jesus’ great act of
reconciling and forgiving humanity on the cross. So the Penitential Act at the beginning of
Mass open us to what the Eucharist is all about.
The Sacrament of
Reconciliation
True,
this is not the actual Sacrament of Reconciliation.
That
is why there is no Sign of the Cross with the words of absolution as there is
in the Sacrament of Reconciliation itself.
We have this distinct and separate sacrament.
This
is a verbal and visible way of experiencing the forgiveness of God in the ministry
of the priest. Many people like to
experience this with some regularity.
And
the Church teaches that this special sacrament is needed if we have seriously
violated basic responsibilities of our baptismal commitment or of our vocation
in life. But on a weekly and ordinary
basis, reconciliation and forgiveness takes place right here at the beginning
of Mass.
And
again, this is so much like the prodigal son with his father in today’s
gospel. The father simply embraces and
welcomes him.
The Priest as the Father
My
final reflection is that this father is a good example of what I believe my
approach as a priest should be like here at Mass.
I make
the assumption that all of us who come forward to receive Communion want
reconciliation. In other words, they or we
want to be made one – that’s what the word “reconcile” means.
We
want to be made one with God and with each other. This is what Communion is and does for us.
I
never doubt or question the motivation of anyone who comes forward for
Communion. I assume that a desire for
oneness with God is present.
That
is why I believe that my role here at Mass is to be like the father in this
great parable – welcoming, welcoming to the table, welcoming to the feast of
the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
