Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: March 06, 2016
Dear Parishioners and Friends,
It’s great to be back inside our beloved Cathedral church! The engineers and architects have finished inspecting the ceiling, support beams and other stuff “up high,” and no significant problems have been encountered. (There are some cosmetic things that we need to tend to in the next few years, and a few other structural things that we’d best either keep a close eye on or tend to as well, but the building’s not going to come down around us, which is a good thing!) The scaffolding was disassembled far faster than it went up, I tell you! Cleaning the floors and dusting every interior surface took far longer!
Meanwhile, our Lent continues. This weekend’s Gospel (Lk 15:1-3, 11-32) is a very familiar one, especially for the thousands of faithful throughout the Diocese of Baton Rouge who are participating in our “One Book, One Church” project during this special Jubilee Year of Mercy. Even if you’re not reading and discussing Father Henri Nouwen’s book on the subject – though it’s never too late to do so! – the focus of everyone in the Church this weekend is Jesus’ famous Parable of the Prodigal Son.
It’s not surprising that Luke remembered this saying of the Lord. His Gospel is the one which emphasizes the mercy of God towards sinners the most. Much forgiveness goes on (for example, Lk 7:36-50, and 23:39-43). Jesus, who incarnates divine mercy among us, likewise challenges us in words that in this Year of Mercy are often heard sending us forth from Mass: “Be merciful, just as your heavenly Father is merciful” (Lk 6:36).
True, the Old Testament had revealed God as merciful (see Dt 4:31, for instance), but too often the scribes and Pharisees who opposed Jesus ignored this. Jesus’s actions and not just his words made His priorities plain: He “receives sinners and eats with them” (Lk 15:2). In the final analysis, Jesus stresses that God thinks and acts differently from us, especially in being kind: “I am God, not man; I am the Holy One in your midst and have no wish to destroy” (Hos 11:9).
The Prodigal Son story also does this: in fact it’s often called “the Parable of the Forgiving Father.” The father in Jesus’ fable is described as always on the lookout to rescue his wayward child, and eager to overlook all of his misbehavior once he realized the error of his ways.
This father’s compassion in the parable (Lk 15:20) stands in stark contrast with the more severe attitude of the older son in the story, who rejects both his younger brother and his father’s attitude (Lk 15:30). The older son’s views, really, is the same as that of the scribes and Pharisees who refused to admit their own sins and disassociated themselves from “sinners,” whom they considered unclean. Jesus scandalized them by His different – and accepting! – attitude toward sinners.
The contrast between the two brothers in the parable is also very strong. The younger brother eventually recognized his faults, and returns home to say honestly: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son” (Lk 15:18-19, 21). The older brother, rather, remains arrogant and angry. His complaining stands in marked contrast to both his brother’s sincere repentance and his father’s tenderness (Lk 15:28-30).
What’s the meaning of the parable? Of course, God the Father is reflected by the loving father in the story. God invites us to return to Him: “Return … I will not remain angry with you, for I am merciful, says the Lord” (Jer 3:12). The sons reflect us! But which son in the parable do we resemble?
Remember, our 5 to 6 pm Lenten Wednesday Holy Hour here is a great opportunity for you to decide to be like the prodigal son, and not stay an angry or bitter outsider to God’s household. I’m making myself available for confessions during the Holy Hour, while the Blessed Sacrament is exposed for adoration; we conclude with Benediction.
In Christ’s love,
