He was an alcoholic. His wife and children left him, so he turned to drugs to help him cope. He was strolling around when he noticed a lot of people entering a venue. Curious, he went in and was surprised to be welcomed by smiling faces. He felt out of place in the large hall full of well-dressed people, but he stayed and listened. The talk he heard were like arrows that pierced his heart. He felt God’s love and had a newfound desire to fix his life. He asked me, “Do you think there’s a place for someone like me in your community?” Moved by his question, I said, “Brother, our church exists for someone like you.” 

In Jesus’ parables today, the message to tax collectors and sinners is clear: Repent and come home to the Father. His message to the religious leaders is also clear: Don’t turn away from those who have sinned. Be happy when the lost are found. Be happy when they repent and come home to the Father. 

Audee Villaraza (avillaraza@gmail.com)

reflect

Everyone deserves God’s mercy. But the ones who are most deserving are those who need it the most. Humble yourself and seek God’s mercy today. He waits for you.

Heavenly Father, thank You for giving me a place to come back to. Forgive me for straying. Never allow me to leave again. Amen.

St. Peter Regalado, pray for us.

First Reading | Joshua 5:9, 10-12

The chosen people have arrived in the Promised Land and are celebrating the Passover there. The long journey through the desert has ended, and God’s promise is fulfilled. As Christians, we take the promise of the Promised Land a step further as the promise of heaven and eternal life with God. We must celebrate what God did for the Jews, but let us remember that what He does for us in Jesus is far greater.

⁹ The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have removed the reproach of Egypt from you.” ¹⁰ While the Israelites were encamped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they celebrated the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth of the month. ¹¹ On the day after the Passover they ate of the produce of the land in the form of unleavened cakes and parched grain. On that same day ¹² after the Passover on which they ate of the produce of the land, the manna ceased. No longer was there manna for the Israelites, who that year ate of the yield of the land of Canaan.

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7

R: Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

² I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall be ever in my mouth. ³ Let my soul glory in the Lord; the lowly will hear me and be glad. (R) ⁴ Glorify the Lord with me, let us together extol his name. ⁵ I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. (R) ⁶ Look to him that you may be radiant with joy, and your faces may not blush with shame. ⁷ When the poor one called out, the Lord heard, and from all his distress he saved him. (R)

Second Reading | 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 

We are ambassadors for Christ. This means that we are important in the eyes of God as individuals He wants to save and be in relationship with, and as potential bearers of the Good News to those who have not yet heard it or not yet responded to it. Let us never diminish our worth in God’s eyes and remember that He gave us the greatest dignity in all of creation.

¹⁷ Brothers and sisters: Whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. ¹⁸ And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, ¹⁹ namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ²¹ For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Gospel | Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 

The Parable of the Prodigal Son needs little explanation. However, what we are dealing with here is the prodigal love of the father for his son; it is the father who is the focus. Similarly, we tend to focus on the bad, the sin in our lives, rather than the goodness of God. Let us change our focus and allow God’s goodness, mercy, and love to guide our decisions and thoughts.

Gospel Acclamation

I will get up and go to my Father and shall say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.

¹ Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, ² but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” ³ So to them Jesus addressed this parable: ¹¹ “A man had two sons, ¹² 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. ¹³ 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. ¹⁴ When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need. ¹⁵ So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine. ¹⁶ And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any. ¹⁷ 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. ¹⁸ I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹ I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”’ ²⁰ 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. ²¹ His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.’ ²² 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. ²³ Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, ²⁴ because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.’ Then the celebration began. ²⁵ 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. ²⁶ He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean. ²⁷ 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.’ ²⁸ He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him. ²⁹ 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. ³⁰ But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’ ³¹ He said to him, ‘My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. ³² 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.’”

Read the Bible in one year! Read EXODUS 10 - 12 today.

To Be Embraced by God

One of the paintings I would love to behold is “The Return of the Prodigal Son” by the Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn. Likely completed within two years of Rembrandt’s death in 1669, the monumental oil painting is now part of the collection at The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. Experts perceive the spiritual depth, psychological drama, and uncompromising realism behind the broad, sketchy brushstrokes of the artist. The observer of the painting is invited in such grand “homecoming,” where divine tenderness breaks in and illuminates human wretchedness. 

The renowned Catholic author and priest Henri Nouwen wrote a best selling book about Rembrandt’s painting that became his signature work. It was said that before writing the book, he went to the museum and sought permission to bring a chair and sit for whole days contemplating the painting, studying it from various angles and vantage points. For Nouwen, the true center of the painting is the hands of the father. In them, mercy becomes flesh; forgiveness, reconciliation, and healing come together.

Indeed, the father in the story (representing God) is not interested in his prodigal son’s motives for returning, whether for self-preservation or contrition. His forgiveness is pure mercy and has nothing legal about it. Furthermore, the father does not need to be reconciled with his son, for he has never ceased loving his son. Only the younger son needs to be reconciled with his father. Moreover, the father goes out to the sulking elder brother to invite him to join the celebration.

God’s heart and hands are big enough to embrace everyone. Like the father in the story, He doesn’t care why we desire or plan to come home to Him. He only cares that we come home and that we truly find home in His heart. 

Fr. Paolo Asprer, SSP

reflection questions

Are you away from your true home? What’s keeping you from coming home to His heart?

Dear Lord, You patiently await our return and spread a feast to welcome us home to Your heart. Save us from the lures that lead us away from You and draw us back by the depth and constancy of Your love. Amen.

Today, I pray for: ________________________________________