“The
Prodigal Son is one of the Stupidest Stories in the Bible.”[1] I’ll bet that got your attention. That provocative phrase is the title of an
article written by Neal Stone that I stumbled across while I was doing research
for this homily. As you can tell from
the title, the author thinks that the Parable of the Prodigal Son is . . . well
. . . stupid because, in his words, “[i]t contradicts
punishment for evil and reward for good.”[2] Mr. Stone goes so far as to propose a
different ending to the parable that goes like this:
And when he returned home, his father kicked [him] and made him a servant to his brother who did the
right thing. He was sent to his room with no supper while a major
party was thrown for the good son as
a reward for his faithfulness. He then
would forever be a servant of the
family never to receive any inheritance from
his father or family and would forever live in shame for what he had done.[3]
It sounds like Mr. Stone is suffering from “Older Son
Syndrome.” Today’s Gospel provides the
cure.
Our
readings today tell us that we have entered a new era – a time of great
joy. Our first reading proclaims that
the Lord has removed the reproach of slavery from us (Joshua 5: 9a), and our
second reading makes clear that “the old things have passed away; new things
have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) Jesus tells us what all this means in the
Parable of the Prodigal Son, where a loving father welcomes his younger son who
has returned from a life lost to sin, embraces him and throws a big party for
him. The outcome of this story may seem
unfair – an ungrateful son is rewarded for his arrogance and disobedience. The older son in the parable certainly didn’t
like it and neither did Mr. Stone. Maybe
we don’t like it either. But remember,
our readings tell us that “the old things have passed away; new things have
come.”
So what
are these new things? Well, let’s start
with what has never changed. God loves
us all, perfectly and equally. And he
never stops loving us, no matter what we do.
In fact, God’s love and forgiveness are far, far greater than the
grievousness of our wrongdoing.[4] Pope Benedict XVI talks about this in his
first Encyclical, God is Love, when
he says that “God’s passionate love for his people – for humanity – is . . . a
forgiving love. It is so great that it
turns God against himself, his love against his justice.”[5] That’s where the new things come in. The new era begins with Jesus Christ, who
through his loving self-sacrifice on the cross, reconciled justice with
love. Through Jesus, God is “breaking
through the condemnation of [his] own law in order to reach out and save the
lost.”[6] The love of God, incarnate in Jesus Christ, ushers
in the new era: an era where love conquers sin; an era where the Father seeks
out the lost, runs out to welcome us, and celebrates our return, not matter
what we may have done.
But to
receive the love that never stops searching for us, we have to be willing to be
found. There is some effort required on our part. We have to acknowledge our wrongdoing – we
have to understand how far we’ve wandered away from God, and we have to turn
back. “[We] have to turn back to God,
but we don’t have to crawl back. Divine
love meets [us] more than half way.”[7] The
challenge is that it’s not always easy to see how far we’ve wandered off. Sure, in the case of the younger son, it’s not
too difficult. When we hear words like
“squandered his inheritance,” “a life of dissipation,” and “swallowed up your
property with prostitutes,” we know he’s pretty far from God.
But
what about the older son? What did he do
wrong? He didn’t demand his
inheritance; he stayed faithful to his Father . . . until the father showed mercy to the younger son. In his self-righteousness, the older son
forgets the tremendous love he has
received all along, and he becomes angry when his father extends that love to his
sinful brother. He doesn’t believe that the younger son deserves it. With that attitude, the older son has
wandered just as far from God as the younger son did, just in a different
way. And he’s missing out on the
celebration. “Sharing in God’s grace
requires that we join in the celebration when others are recipients of that
grace also.”[8]
You
know, rejoicing, celebrating the new era is what the Church is talking about
when it preaches New Evangelization. New
Evangelization is welcoming our lost brothers and sisters home and rejoicing
when they return so we can share the joy of God’s Kingdom together, here and now. New
Evangelization isn’t standing with crossed arms and furrowed brows as we judge
the sins of others in ways that only God can.
It doesn’t demand punishment for evil.
That’s Older Son Syndrome, and it’s incompatible with New Evangelization
and with our own salvation.
I have
to admit that from time to time, I suffer from Older Son Syndrome. I find myself sympathizing with Mr. Stone’s
argument when I overlook the many blessings that I’ve received and self-righteously
convince myself that I’m somehow better and more deserving than others. But fortunately,
there’s a cure for Older Son Syndrome.
It begins in recognizing that in my self-righteousness, I’ve wandered as
far from God as the younger son did. Then,
standing in the shoes of the younger son, I might understand that if Mr.
Stone’s proposed ending to the Parable of the Prodigal Son applied to me, it
would sound something like this:
And
when I returned home, my father kicked [me] and made me a servant to my brother who did the right
thing. I was sent to my room with no supper while a major party was
thrown for the good son as a reward
for his faithfulness. I then would
forever be a servant of the family
never to receive any inheritance from my father
or family and would forever live in shame for what I had done.
From that perspective, I might not be so insistent on
punishment for evil. From that
perspective, I might thank God that a new era has begun and be more willing to
rejoice when God’s love is extended to others.
From that perspective, I might just realize that “The Prodigal Son is
one of the Greatest Stories in the Bible.”
[1]Neal
Stone, “The Prodigal Son is one of the Stupidest Stories in the Bible,”
ExChristian.net (September 29, 2008), http://articles.exchristian.net/2008/09/prodigal-son-is-one-of-the-stupidest.html,
accessed March 8, 2013.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4]
Patricia Datchuck Sánchez,
“Breaking the Rules,” National Catholic Reporter, vol. 49, no. 10 (March 1-14,
2013) at 23.
[5]
Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est
(Vatican City, Libreria Vaticana, 2005) at 10.
[6]
Reginald H. Fuller, Daniel Westberg, Preaching
the Lectionary: The Word of God for the Church Today, 3rd ed.
(Collegeville, Liturgical Press, 2006) at 408.
[7]
John Shea, The Spiritual Wisdom of the
Gospels for Christian Preachers and Teachers:
The Relentless Widow (Collegeville, Liturgical Press, 2006) at 83.
[8] R.
Alan Culpepper, “The Gospel of Luke,” The
New Interpreter’s Bible, vol. IX (Nashville, Abingdon Press, 1995) at 304.
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