The younger son cannot comprehend the love of the father and searches for love in all of the wrong places, and by the wrong means. The older son lives according to the rules and direction of the father, but it becomes apparent that there is not a relationship there. For the youngest, realizing that his actions have led him to a pigsty, he returns to the father. Perhaps, an hopefully so, the older son might recognize that his hardness of heart has removed him from the house of the father. Both have missed the understanding of the father's lavish giving.
What is fantastic about the Prodigal son story is that we relate to it so well. The attempting to find meaning in actions or choices which only serve to destroy life and relationships. The inability to forgive or to let our misgivings heal. In the center of our lives is a Father who loves us abundantly. God is a patient God who is longing to be found; always ready to embrace us with love and mercy. Too often we seek meaning and purpose like cotton candy. We fill up on air and sugar only to become more and more disappointed that we are never full.
Building relationships on the love and mercy of God the Father is the only source of life which we need. The ability to forgive and be forgiven opens us to each other, and most importantly, to the renewed relationship which our God holds out to us.. Seeking out the lost and forsaken is part of the ministry of Jesus and is part of our ministry too. Our God of mercy delights in us and sees in us the possibilities of new life.
With St Paul we praise and thank God for the abundance he blesses us with. Hopefully we can approach the work with a mature faith always ready to forgive and make peace in the world today. We are like prodigal children, lost sheep and coins, that once found are able to rejoice, "I once was lost but now I am found."
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