Lenten Weekday
By Lorenz S. Centino, Jr.
Luke 15: 1 - 3, 11 - 32
1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them." 3 So he told them this parable: 11 And he said, "There was a man who had two sons; 12 and the younger of them said to his father, `Father, give me the share of property that falls to me.' And he divided his living between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in loose living. 14 And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. 15 So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate; and no one gave him anything. 17 But when he came to himself he said, `How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants."' 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, `Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' 22 But the father said to his servants, `Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; 23 and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; 24 for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to make merry. 25 "Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants and asked what this meant. 27 And he said to him, `Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and sound.' 28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, `Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you killed for him the fatted calf!' 31 And he said to him, `Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'"
PERSONAL REFLECTIONS:
A BLESSED SATURDAY TO ALL!!!
We may have heard about stories of people described as ONE-DAY MILLIONAIRES. These stories are real or true-to-life accounts of concrete experiences of men and women who have tasted wealth, which is bigger than what an ordinary worker can amass in a lifetime, but in different ways just drop off to ZERO almost drastically just the way how it was gained. There could be many causes of this bankruptcy. Most often, as the stories would show, the cause is mismanagement of the wealth due to being swallowed up by the glamour and power of money to buy and possess whatever one wants and desires. The frequent spending is almost hard to tract. Most of the time, the spending is not well planned except that they satisfy one’s wants and drive for pleasure.
The story or parable of the PRODIGAL SON is the Gospel today that somehow mirrors a one-day millionaire story. The son got all his inheritance from his father and later on he just found out that everything that he had were totally squandered away. From being wealthy, he is now a destitute. He has nothing left. From a glamorous and pleasure-filled life, he is now living through a lowly and embarrassing work. He has to share the food for the pigs he tends just to fill in something in his empty stomach.
This story about the prodigal son is not so much a wakeup call for proper and wise WEALTH-MANAGEMENT. This story is meant for a prudent and far-sighted SELF-MANAGEMENT, especially in learning to start all over again from falling down into the pit of pure pleasure-driven choices and self-gratifying decisions. The parable, moreover, is not so much about showing the negative effect of squandering lavishly one’s wealth to impoverishment and destitution than being a WARNING of LOSING one’s INHERITED DESTINY for HEAVEN. The parable, therefore, is not much about becoming a destitute from being wealthy but much more about being LOST but being FOUND! It is not so much about RUNNING AWAY, but it is more about COMING BACK!
This parable of the prodigal son provides us with a framework about the over-all SPIRIT of the Lenten Season. Thus, it provides us a pattern that we have to walk into as we journey in life. Lent is a reminder that our LIFE is a JOURNEY to GOD. To be more exact, in fact, life is a JOURNEY BACK to God. Like the prodigal son, who inherited from father, we are all INHERITORS of the WEALTH of the FULLNESS of LIFE. Jesus’ DEATH and RESURRECTION, the two major events we commemorate during our Lenten celebrations, make us all inheritors of the wealth of the NEW LIFE with God. Jesus’ death was a death ONCE and FOR ALL! And so the FRUIT of Jesus’ resurrection, new life, is meant for us all which God bestowed unto us as our inheritance in Jesus.
However, though we are inheritors of God’s promise of eternal life, like the prodigal son we are also squandering away our opportunity of sharing in the fullness of life with God by our wrong choices and self-gratifying decisions that make us to turn our BACK AWAY from God. By our SINS we become destitute of the spiritual wealth that can lead us to journey towards eternal life. The prodigal son, however, shows to us that what we may have lost can still be found if we only lead our steps back to the father who kept on waiting for our RETURN. The prodigal son provides us with a THREE-STEP JOURNEY in going back to the father every time we turn our back away from him because of sin.
First, like the prodigal son, we need to be CONTRITE of HEART to acknowledge our sinfulness and to STAND UP to face God for whatever wrong we have done. Being contrite is experiencing SORROW upon the sincere recognition of one’s sin. In order to be contrite, we need to see first our own deprivation and must accept first our spiritual poverty that HUNGERS for God. The prodigal son finds his way back to his father because of this realization, “How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father.”
Being contrite and sorrowful over ones sinfulness because of the realization of endangering one’s standing before our Father in heaven must lead us to the second step. This step is acknowledging and CONFESSING before God one’s sins as a sign and expression and demonstration of one’s need for his MERCY and FORGIVENESS. The prodigal son have shown us this when he decided to stand before his father and personally accept before him all his sinfulness: “I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants."
The third step of the journey of returning back to God will show the sincerity of our sorrow and the authenticity of our personal remorse that we truly have felt and will manifest that we are truly SORRY for what we have done wrong against God and to anyone. This third step is our desire and willingness to do something to REPAIR whatever damage we have done like a payment or atonement for whatever injury or harm we’ve caused by our sins. The prodigal son has shown this step when he said to his father “I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.” This would show the willingness and readiness of the son to MAKE UP for whatever damage he has done against his father. He wants to repair the damage that he caused in their relationship and the wealth that he squandered in loose living. It is easy to say sorry for whatever unbecoming we’ve done and easy to confess the wrong we’ve made, but it is always hard to REAPAIR whatever harm or damage our wrongdoings have caused.
These three steps are RITAULLY celebrated by receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation. By going to the Priest for CONFESSION, we are ritually manifesting our contrite hearts that lead us to stand up to meet the merciful and forgiving Father in the Sacrament. This season of Lent is the best time to meet our Merciful and Forgiving God, our Father, in the sacrament of Reconciliation. This Lent, let us allow ourselves to be FOUND by the Father by RETURNING BACK to him.
