Saturday of the Second Week of Lent ‘c’

Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

The parable about the prodigal son - who doesn’t know this beautiful story? Even those who don’t believe in Jesus know His parable. What I would like to focus on today is not the son who left and then returned to his father, but on the other son who always remained faithful to his father. However, the faithful son got very angry upon the return of his brother. He was hoping that his brother would receive some kind of punishment from his father, or at least some words of criticism. Instead, the father welcomed him with open arms and even prepared a banquet for the occasion. I like the father’s response: “my son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.” Sometimes we become like that older son. We become judgmental of others, thinking that we are better because we never left Jesus, and we never left our faith, and those other sinful people will be condemned. However, Jesus proves to us today that God loves us equally, those of us who never left Him and those who may have committed terrible sins, but then repented, came back to the Lord, and begged Him for His mercy.