4th Sunday of Lent - Year C

What is the most important thing in our faith? Going to church, praying, living a good life? All of these are important, but the most important thing is being convinced that God loves you. In fact, if everything we do in our faith does not help us grow in the conviction that God loves us, then it’s worth very little. In today’s Gospel, the evangelist Luke shows us that God is a Father full of mercy towards us His children, even though many times we are ungrateful to Him.

To understand this parable, we need to understand who the Pharisees and the scribes were, and who the publicans and sinners were. The Pharisees and scribes were the upper class of Jewish society; the Pharisees were ultra-conservative men who had seized religious power and claimed to be perfect. The scribes were legal experts, and since in Jewish society there was no separation between religious and civil matters, they were also responsible for public documents—something like notaries. These two groups had significant power, and because of that, they looked down on others. It was not the first time they found themselves in conflict with Jesus.

On the other end of Jewish society were the publicans and sinners. The publicans were men who likely sought the favor of the authorities for personal gain and thus aligned themselves with the Roman Empire, which had occupied the land of Israel since 63 BC. They worked for the empire collecting taxes from their fellow Jews. This made them hated—not only were they collaborating with the enemy, but they also stole from their own people while collecting taxes. The sinners were the publicly known wrongdoers; in Jewish society, anyone caught breaking the law openly became a social outcast—like the adulterous woman mentioned in the Gospel.

Jesus was criticized by the Pharisees and scribes for seeking the company of publicans and sinners, and for eating with them. His response to this criticism was to tell them three parables found in Luke chapter 15: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the one we have today—the parable of the father and his two sons.

It’s striking that the mother is not mentioned in this parable. The famous painter Rembrandt painted the scene where the father welcomes back the younger son, and he gives a beautiful interpretation. In the painting, the father's hands embracing his son are noticeably different—one is a man’s hand, and the other is a woman’s. What did he mean by this? He wanted to show that God's love for us resembles both a father’s and a mother’s love. In fact, the Bible sometimes compares God’s love to that of a mother.

The father in the parable has two sons, both of whom fail to understand the most important thing: that their father loves them. The younger one, a rebellious youth, forces his father to give him his inheritance and leaves home so his father can no longer interfere in his life. He wastes all he has in a disordered life. But when his money runs out, the world stops smiling at him and he ends up feeding pigs—the lowest possible job for a Jew, since pigs are considered unclean animals. He even wishes to eat the food the pigs were eating, but no one gives him anything. This shows the misery a person falls into when they turn away from God.

When he hits rock bottom, he comes to his senses and begins to think that even his father's hired servants are better off than he is. He wonders if his father would be willing to take him back as a servant. He decides to return home. But his father, who had been waiting and hoping for his return, sees him while he is still far off, runs to him, and embraces him. As the son begins to confess his sin—words he had likely rehearsed many times—the father doesn't even let him finish. He immediately tells the servants to put a ring on his finger, sandals on his feet, dress him in the best robe, and prepare a feast. The father is overjoyed—his son who was lost is found. He knows that words alone aren’t enough to convince someone who has lost everything that they are loved—it takes concrete actions. The father was never going to accept him back merely as a servant. He wanted him back as his beloved son. And so he throws the biggest celebration for him.

The older son happens to be out in the field. When he returns, he finds that the party has already started. After asking what was going on, he refuses to go inside because he’s angry. The father comes out again—this time to invite the older son. But the older son interrupts him with a bitter accusation against both his father and his brother. Notice that he doesn’t call him “Father,” and he doesn’t refer to his brother as “my brother,” but rather says “this son of yours.” Isn’t that exactly what we do when we are angry? We want to say, “I don’t want anything to do with you.”

The ending of the parable, in my opinion, is the most beautiful part. Notice the first word the father says to the older son: “Son.” And when referring to his brother, he tells him, “this brother of yours.” How beautiful is this image of the Father rebuilding the bridges we ourselves have destroyed—the image of a God who always seeks to welcome us back; how often are we blind to His love! Are you convinced that God loves you? Maybe today, all of us need to hear once more the voice of the Father calling us: “MY SON / MY DAUGHTER…”

Lord Jesus, how much we need to thank you today for your Word. How it fills us with joy and courage. Only you could reveal to us the merciful heart of the Father. Help us not to close our hearts to this love, because it is only this love that fills our hearts, gives meaning to our lives, and above all, is the one treasure that no one and nothing—not even death—can take away from us. Amen.d u xejn ma jeħodhulna, lanqas il-mewt. Ammen.