Fourth Sunday of Lent (Year C)

Joshua 5:9-12; Psalm 33;

2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Luke 15

While we were still a long way off, God saw us and came to meet us in Jesus. In Christ we are reconciled to God and to each other - a cause for celebration.

Notes on the Readings

The First Reading

The Israelites end their wandering and celebrate their new-found home.

The Responsorial Psalm

The Psalmist issues us with a call to praise the Lord.

The Second Reading

Wandering humankind comes home to its true self in Jesus Christ.

The Gospel

The story of the Prodigal Son; Jesus tells a parable story about God the Father’s love and mercy towards his children.

Reflection

Prodigality means extravagance or wasteful­ness. The British waste more food than any other nation, throwing out thirty to forty percent of all the produce they buy and grow each year. As individuals, we may often be careless with God's good gifts. The prodigal son had been extravagant and wasteful with his father's money. Hungry and broke, he threw himself on his father's generosity. His repentance was probably not genuine. He goes home because he is broke.

His father knows this but does not care. His love is even more prodigal and extravagant than the prodigality of his son. He rushes out to embrace him and provides a rich feast to celebrate his return.

And that is good news for us too. Whatever we have done or not done, we have a God who forgives. When we were still far off God met us in Christ and brought us home. It was God who reconciled us to him­self through Christ.

On the other hand, maybe we identify with the older brother. We may not feel that we are the greatest of sinners. We have been doing our best and know all about born-again gaol-birds and deathbed repentances - thank you very much!' However, if that is our attitude, Jesus gives us a gentle message from his Father: `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.'

But of course we are all sinners. None of us have any claim on God's love except that he gives it to us, brimful and running over. The Eucharist is the rich feast that God pro­vides to celebrate our homecoming. Unlike the resentful older brother, we cannot pre­sume on our own merits, so like the father in the story we should welcome others, join­ing in God's work of reconciliation. `It is as though God were appealing through us, and the appeal that we make in Christ's name is: be reconciled to God.'

Fourth Sunday of Lent (Year C)

Joshua 5:9-12; Psalm 33;

2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Luke 15

While we were still a long way off, God saw us and came to meet us in Jesus. In Christ we are reconciled to God and to each other - a cause for celebration.

Notes on the Readings

The First Reading

The Israelites end their wandering and celebrate their new-found home.

The Responsorial Psalm

The Psalmist issues us with a call to praise the Lord.

The Second Reading

Wandering humankind comes home to its true self in Jesus Christ.

The Gospel

The story of the Prodigal Son; Jesus tells a parable story about God the Father’s love and mercy towards his children.

Reflection

Prodigality means extravagance or wasteful­ness. The British waste more food than any other nation, throwing out thirty to forty percent of all the produce they buy and grow each year. As individuals, we may often be careless with God's good gifts. The prodigal son had been extravagant and wasteful with his father's money. Hungry and broke, he threw himself on his father's generosity. His repentance was probably not genuine. He goes home because he is broke.

His father knows this but does not care. His love is even more prodigal and extravagant than the prodigality of his son. He rushes out to embrace him and provides a rich feast to celebrate his return.

And that is good news for us too. Whatever we have done or not done, we have a God who forgives. When we were still far off God met us in Christ and brought us home. It was God who reconciled us to him­self through Christ.

On the other hand, maybe we identify with the older brother. We may not feel that we are the greatest of sinners. We have been doing our best and know all about born-again gaol-birds and deathbed repentances - thank you very much!' However, if that is our attitude, Jesus gives us a gentle message from his Father: `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.'

But of course we are all sinners. None of us have any claim on God's love except that he gives it to us, brimful and running over. The Eucharist is the rich feast that God pro­vides to celebrate our homecoming. Unlike the resentful older brother, we cannot pre­sume on our own merits, so like the father in the story we should welcome others, join­ing in God's work of reconciliation. `It is as though God were appealing through us, and the appeal that we make in Christ's name is: be reconciled to God.'