Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So to them Jesus addressed this parable. “A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’ So the father divided the property between them. After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation. When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need. So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine. And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any. Coming to his senses he thought, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger. I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”’ So he got up and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.’ But his father ordered his servants, ‘Quickly, bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.’ Then the celebration began. Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean. The servant said to him, ‘Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him. He said to his father in reply, ‘Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’ He said to him, ‘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.’“
Let me ask you a tough question: which is harder to do: confess your sins or to grant forgiveness to another? When we’re small children we’d answer that it’s a lot harder to confess. To say, “I’m sorry I stole the cookie; please forgive me for lying to you; I’m sorry for punching Johnny in the nose.” It’s hard to confess and eat humble pie when we’re young. But when we get older other people offend us, and it’s up to us to forgive them. I would submit to you that forgiveness is a lot harder than confession. I’ve counseled countless married couples, and the single biggest reason marriages fail is not because someone committed adultery, not because someone spends too much money, not because of a difference of religion. Rather, it’s because one spouse refuses to forgive the other for some offense. Let me ask again: which is harder: to confess cookie theft, or to forgive an adulterous husband?
That’s why people often miss the point of today’s gospel, the so-called parable of the Prodigal Son. Who is the story really about: the younger son or the older son? Most people would say the protagonist is the younger son, but I disagree. The whole section about the younger son – the squandering money, the dissolute living with prostitutes – is setting up the real dilemma: will the older son forgive or not? The parable really is not about confession, but rather about forgiveness. Why? Well, because Jesus knows which is harder for us (and which was harder for the Pharisees), that is, it’s a lot harder for us to forgive. After all, the younger son does finally confess his sins, while the older son stands stubbornly outside the house refusing to forgive, that’s how the parable ends. We don’t know if the older son ever went inside the Father’s house. Confession is hard, but the younger son eventually does it; forgiveness is so hard that the older son can’t do it. Alexander Pope wisely said 300 years ago: “To err is human, to forgive is divine.”
Let me ask you another tough question: Why don’t Catholics go to confession? Most of us would reply: “I can’t think of anything I’ve done wrong! I haven’t robbed a bank, I haven’t killed anyone, or even punched Johnny in the nose!” That may be true. But you see, confessing sins is the easy part of this sacrament; the harder thing is forgiving others. Ask yourself: whom have I refused to forgive? Does anyone come to mind? I bet a lot of people come to mind: parents, siblings, friends, co-workers, maybe even a priest or two, oh, and how about your ex? I know lots of people come to your mind because plenty of people come to my mind, too, who I refuse to forgive.
My friends, we reach a point in life when the purpose and perspective of the sacrament of confession changes profoundly. We don’t enter the confessional as the younger son – carrying the sins of sex, drugs and rock and roll – but rather we enter as the older son – weighed down with the burden of self-righteous indignation, grudges and resentment. To err is human – that was the role of the younger son; to forgive is divine – that was supposed to be the role of the older son. Forgiving was supposed to be how the older son would become like his Father, and the condition for him to enter his Father's house. Forgiving others is also the condition for us if we want to enter the Father's House.
Praised be Jesus Christ!
No comments:
Post a Comment