The Gospel for November 11, 2004 (Martin of Tours)
Luke 15:1-2, 11-32
The tax collectors and sinners, however, were all crowding round to listen to him, and the Pharisees and scribes complained saying, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’... Then he said, ‘There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, “Father, let me have the share of the estate that will come to me.” So the father divided the property between them. A few days later, the younger son got together everything he had and left for a distant country where he squandered his money on a life of debauchery. ‘When he had spent it all, that country experienced a severe famine, and now he began to feel the pinch; so he hired himself out to one of the local inhabitants who put him on his farm to feed the pigs. And he would willingly have filled himself with the husks the pigs were eating but no one would let him have them. Then he came to his senses and said, “How many of my father’s hired men have all the food they want and more, and here am I dying of hunger! I will leave this place and go to my father and say: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired men.” So he left the place and went back to his father. ‘While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him. Then his son said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.” But the father said to his servants, “Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the calf we have been fattening, and kill it; we will celebrate by having a feast, because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found.” And they began to celebrate. ‘Now the elder son was out in the fields, and on his way back, as he drew near the house, he could hear music and dancing. Calling one of the servants he asked what it was all about. The servant told him, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the calf we had been fattening because he has got him back safe and sound.” He was angry then and refused to go in, and his father came out and began to urge him to come in; but he retorted to his father, “All these years I have slaved for you and never once disobeyed any orders of yours, yet you never offered me so much as a kid for me to celebrate with my friends. But, for this son of yours, when he comes back after swallowing up your property—he and his loose women—you kill the calf we had been fattening.” ‘The father said, “My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours. But it was only right we should celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found.” ’ -- The New Jerusalem Bible. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1995, c1985
A Study
Today's Hebrew Bible reading from Joel chapter 2 contains YHWH's promise to Israel when they have turned again to Him: "‘And you will know that I am among you in Israel, I, Yahweh your God ....'"
This parable from Jesus is God's promise to us that the last to repent has equal stature in the kingdom. It follows up the joy that Heaven has in a sinner's repentance, at any time; it tells us that what was lost and is now found is valuable, indeed.
A Reflection
Two summers ago I had the great pleasure of being involved in a study of Fr. Henri Nouwen's book Return of the Prodigal, Nouwen's exposition on Rembrandt's painting by that name -- and then into the study of the parable itself and the conditions that the parable describes.
While we are somehow drawn to the older brother's resentment against the attention being paid to the younger brother, the focus ought to be on the relation that has [seemingly] instantly developed between the father and the younger brother. Any of us who is a parent can identify with the father, who has, in essence, been betrayed by the younger son. There was always the chance that the younger son could have taken his inheritance and turned in a stellar return-on-investment -- a second Joseph, perhaps?
Instead, the younger son wasted the gift of his father and had to return empty-handed, begging for mercy.
My own story parallels this story, but not just one time. I don't think that I'm alone when I say that I have repeatedly squandered my inheritance and returned to the seat of mercy begging for another chance.
Jesus offers us always the opportunity to be the last one under the wire, and we seem always to be ready to bet that we'll be the one to take Him up on His offer.
I pray that I will not be the last, not because I have erred less frequently than others, but because I will have achieved some degree of self-control and right living near the end of my days. But we should all remember that the end of our days may come far sooner than we might have predicted.
The Collect
Lord God of hosts, who clothed your servant Martin the soldier with the spirit of sacrifice, and set him as a bishop in your Church to be a defender of the catholic faith: Give us grace to follow in his holy steps, that at the last we may be found clothed with righteousness in the dwellings of peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
6:02:54 PM 
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