A GOD WHO FORGIVES

Luke 15:11-32
Story:
A Filipino priest who lives in NYC.
 He came back to the Philippines to visit his
family.
 One of the reasons for his visit had something to
do with his younger sixteen-year old sister.
 For a long time, his father has been begging him
to come and help him look for his runaway
sister.
 A combination of adolescent rebellion, bad
company, drugs, among other things, was the
cause.
 It was an embarrassment that such a thing could
happen to a good Catholic family.
 He and his father finally found his sister living
among squatters and drug addicts.
 He said: “The feeling that my father and I had
over this finding is indescribable. I now know
what that father of the prodigal son meant
when he said, ‘This child of mine was dead,
and is alive; was lost and is now found.’”

Later, the priest asked his father whether he

was also angry with his daughter for the pain
she has caused the family.

The father replied, “Yes, but what she does not

need right now is my condemnation. My
judgment might only destroy her. Only love and
compassion will keep the door open for her to
come back. I believe that only love could save
her.”
In the prodigal son’s (father’s?) story,
Jesus allows us to penetrate deeply into
the very nature of God: God our Father is
“prodigal” with his compassion and love
towards us.

Dorothy Day, calls it “holy waste.”

TheGerman mystic, Meister Eckhart,

once said, “Nobody at any time is cut off
from God. It is just impossible to lose
God.”
But somehow we have forgotten this.
We have placed limits on the love of God.

God’s love is always there for us, says Meister

Eckhart. We cannot buy his love, and we do not
have to win God’s love by what we do and
accomplish.

This does not mean we can just do what we

want to do.

It is one thing to do good things because God’s

love possesses us; another thing to attempt to
buy God’s love.
In the parable, the father forgave and loved
his prodigal son even before the son asked
his father’s forgiveness.
Love and forgiveness was always there.
The prodigal father did not ask his son to
apologize or to prove himself worthy of his
love.
No, the father’s love was simply a given.
Love was a constant, abiding, and
unchangeable reality.
God is just pure love.
This is hard for us to believe especially
as we live in a society that measures
human worth by one’s achievements.
But in this achievement-oriented society,
the Good News is that God’s love is not
one more trophy to win.
God’s love is always given gratis to all,
whatever you do, whoever you are…
and that love cannot be lost.
Meister Eckhart said, “Whether you go
away or return, God never leaves you.
God is always present.”

The relationship which God establishes

with us is indissoluble, indestructible and
irrevocable simply because God is
faithful, everlastingly committed to us.

We cannot dissolve the covenant

even if we try to dissolve this relationship
and run away from God.
The parable of the prodigal son is
about reconciliation
God's reconciling work in us doesn't
happen in an instant.
Reconciliation is a long and painful
process.
It can be summed up in four C's:
conversion, contrition, confession and
celebration
The journey for the prodigal son (and for us) begins
with selfishness of sin.
His sin takes him away from home - as our sin takes us
from the shelter of God and the Christian community.
His only concern in his self-centered lifestyle—as is
ours in sin—is himself and his personal gratification.
Imagine all the friends this rich young man has. He is
the life of the party.
When his money runs out, so do his "friends."
Eventually he discovers himself so alone, in the mud of
a pigpen, just as he is mired in sin.
Then comes this significant phrase in the story:
"Coming to his senses at last...."
This is the beginning of the journey back, the beginning
of conversion.
Conversion begins with "coming to one's
senses," a realization that all is not right with
our values and way of life.
Conversion initiates a desire for change.
Change is the essence of conversion.
Conversion is a continuous, ongoing,
lifelong process which brings us closer to
"the love of God."
The most important part of the conversion
process is the experience of being loved and
realizing that God's love saves us—we do
not save ourselves.
Our part in this saving action is to be open to
the gift of God's love—to be open to grace.
Contrition – a breaking away from our misdirected actions and
lifestyle, leaving them behind and making some resolutions for the
future.

Contrition means examining our present life in the light of the

Gospel imperative of love, and taking the necessary steps to
repent and repair our relationships with others, ourselves and
God.

The younger son takes the first step in the conversion process
when he "comes to his senses," overcomes his blindness and
sees what he must do. "I will break away and return to my father."
Before he ever gets out of the pigpen, he admits his sinfulness.
And in this acknowledgment of sin he both expresses contrition
and determines his own penance.
True reparation is not punishment.
At its root, reparation is repairing or
correcting a sinful lifestyle.
In the past we were told to do penance as
temporal punishment for our sins.
Now, we understand that our real
"punishment" is the continuing pattern of
sin in our lives and the harmful attitudes
and actions it creates in us.
The purpose of doing penance is to help
us change that pattern. Penance is for
growth, not for punishment.
"Doing penance" means taking steps in the
direction of living a changed life; it means
making room for something new.
Confession: Externalizing what is within

Recognizing our sin, realizing our need to change,

the next step in the process of reconciliation is
confession. Confession is one aspect of the
sacrament of reconciliation.

As Catholics, we immediately think of sacramental

confession.

Yet confession of sin can only be sincere if it is

preceded by conversion and contrition.
It is actually the external expression of the interior
transformation that conversion has brought about
within us.
The father, seeing his son from a distance, runs
out to meet him with an embrace and a kiss.
The father forgives his son—and the son hasn't
even made his confession yet!
When he does, it seems the father hardly listens.
Confession is not the most important thing
here; the important thing is that his son has
returned.
The son need not beg for forgiveness, he has
been forgiven.
This is the “Goodest” Good News: God's
forgiveness, like God's love, doesn't stop.
In this parable, Jesus reveals to us a loving God
who simply cannot not forgive!
Celebration
In every parable Jesus tells, celebration is
an important component of reconciliation.
"Quick!" says the father. "Let us celebrate."
And why?
Because a sinner has converted, repented,
confessed and returned.

Celebration makes sense only when there

is really something to celebrate. When we
recognize what a great grace we have
received from our forgiving God.
We have to celebrate: God rejoices;
The saints and angels in heaven
rejoice. We join in that rejoicing
Our response to God unconditional
forgiveness is to rejoice and give
thanks = celebrate
Having been forgiven, we are
empowered to forgive ourselves and
to forgive one another. In doing so, we
act in a very godly way.
We move closer to peace, justice and
reconciliation that mark the coming of
Christ's Kingdom on earth.
Only God can forgive sins.
But God shares that power to everyone

Every person has the power to forgive those

who have hurt them

We thank God for being a God who forgives,

for being a God who cannot not forgive

We thank God for making us heralds of his

forgiveness in the sacrament of
reconciliation

We thank God for giving us the grace to

forgive those who have hurt us.
For Reflection:

1. When have you experienced the love of the God who forgives you
unconditionally?

2. How and through whom did that love express itself?

Grace to Ask: To celebrate the grace of being forgiven/restored to my

original state and the grace to forgive others as I am forgiven.