Fourth Sunday of Lent - 2019

The Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year C, gives us the beautiful parable of the "Prodigal Son". Prodigality is a word that indicates over the top expressions of one's favour; extravagant and lavished. It is the father's prodigality of forgiving love that inspires the title of this parable. It might also be known as, The Parable of “The Wayward Son” or “The Parable of the Prodigal Father” or the Parable of the “Indignant Elder Brother”.          Let us look at the three central figures of Jesus’ parable.          First, the Younger Son – clearly, he has no appreciation or understanding of his father’s love for him. He is in love with himself.   "Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.' So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living.          A famine breaks out – he is in desperate condition – finally decides to return home – hoping he might get a servant’s job and thus save himself - he fashions a job application he thinks his father might accept and heads home. "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands."          In theological terms we might call this “Imperfect Contrition”. “I’m sorry so I can save myself”.          Second, we look at the father – perhaps he has been going every day to the edge of his property, in hopes of seeing his son’s return – and this day he does see him – a retched, miserable mess – coming up the road.          With extreme Prodigality he lavishes his son with unconditional love – the day no doubt that the son realizes his father’s true love for him.          Now we look at the older son – a son to make a father proud – but he too does not understand that the father loves him. For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends.          He fails to understand what his inheritance is all about – that it too has been given to him by a loving father.          And he fails to see the younger son as his brother; But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!         Might we not see a similarity with some of today’s older, faithful, practicing Catholics, complaining about Pope Francis and his Year of Mercy – his insistence on our need to extend forgiveness to the wayward in today’s Church? Then the father said to him, "Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.' "          So here are three models to whom we might compare ourselves – who am I most like?

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Fourth Sunday of Lent - 2019, "The Fourth Year"

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Jesus was teaching the crowds; some of those present told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. Jesus asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them — do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.” Then Jesus told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ “The gardener replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

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In my experience I view the time of Lent as having two main characteristics, one of desolation and the other of consolation. As we come to grips with sin in our lives, a shadow of shame can overtake us, disrupting the peace that had been comforting us in our self-satisfied religious life. This helps us realize that we are yet only “saints-in-training”, In this desolation, the Spirit reveals to us those areas of our lives that still need work. This comes to us not as condemnation but as discernment. The loss of that comforting peace we had causes us to regret our loss and to strive to win it back with even greater devotion and adherence to the will of God. Like the well-leafed tree in Jesus parable, we may look the part to others, but upon closer scrutiny – “where is the fruit – the fruit of holiness?” Consolation begins to return to us as our repentance is realized by our actions, the Lenten actions of prayer, fasting, and works of charity. Lent is that extra year granted to the fruitless tree in the gospel. Lent is the “Fourth Year”. Lent is that time for digging in, rooting around in our hearts, spreading the manure of self-sacrifice; not seeking our own indulgence and pleasure but rather the justice and mercy our efforts can bring to those around us. Our question today is how is the digging going? The Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy provide us with an excellent checklist by which to measure the fruitfulness of the branches of our life. Lent offers us many ways to examine our lives. As we are now entering the third week of this Lent, which marks the midpoint in our Lenten Journey the question asked of us today is have we engaged in any of these Lenten observances? There is still time, we have been given this “fourth year”. “The gardener replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit (in this extra year) well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’” The spiritual works of mercy include: •  Counsel the doubtful; •  Instruct the ignorant; •  Convert the sinner; •  Comfort the sorrowful; •  Forgive offenses willingly; •  Bear wrongs patiently; •  Pray for the living and the dead. The corporal works of mercy include: •  Feed the hungry; •  Give drink to the thirsty; •  Clothe the naked; •  Visit the imprisoned; •  Shelter the homeless; •  Visit the sick; •  Bury the dead.

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Each year the gospel for the First Sunday of Lent is the account of Jesus' 40 days and 40 nights of prayer and fasting in the wilderness. It is Matthew, Mark and Luke who record this event, each with a slightly different telling. Mark simple recounts the event without any details of the temptations. At once the Spirit drove him out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him. Mk 1:12 Here we note that it is the Spirit who is orchestrating this event. It is a contest of influence between Satan and the Spirit. Who's council will Jesus follow. We think back to the book of Job, where a similar contest between Satan and God is allowed to happen to Job, to test his fidelity to God. Satan is allowed to test Job with a series of crisis inflicted on him. Job remains faithful to God. St. Ignatius, in his "Rules for the Discernment" offers further insight into this dynamic of the testing of one's fidelity to God. First, Satan tries to prevent this faith from ever coming alive in a person. Failing this, Satan creates confusion sounding like the voice of the Good Spirit. The Fourth Rule: It is proper to the evil Angel, who forms himself under the appearance of an angel of light, to enter with the devout soul and go out with himself: that is to say, to bring good and holy thoughts, conformable to such just soul, and then little by little he aims at coming out drawing the soul to his covert deceits and perverse intentions. How then does one know how to make the correct decisions in order to remain faithful to God? A starting point is following the rules, the directives handed down by sound and tested teaching. This was what guide Israel - the law of Moses - the 613 commandments recorded in Talmud - the negative commandments numbering 365, (thou shalt not) and the positive commandments numbering 248, (thou shalt).  But in the gospels, Jesus demonstrates that fidelity to the law is only the beginning. In Luke 10:25 we have the account of an expert in the law, trying to test Jesus. And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus responded with the story of the Good Samaritan, how a the Samaritan man helped the man who was injured by thieves, while a temple priest and a Levite, going up to the Temple for service, passed him by, because the rules of the law prevented them from coming in contact with blood and then serving in the temple.  When the rich man asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus responded by directing him to the commandments. But when the man said the commandments he already follows, Jesus responded; “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” Luke 18:18 We do not save ourselves, God's Mercy saves us. What we must do is "... come and follow me." We must have a firm, committed and personal relationship with Jesus - a real and dynamic spiritual life.  This spiritual relationship implies listening, learning to hear, to recognize the Voice of the Spirit guiding us through each day - helping us to discern, out of the many voices coming at us, which is the voice of the Spirit. These days of Lent are meant to be an "intensive care", for our mind and heart.  "Speak Lord, your servant is listening."

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