Homily for March 10, 2013

4th Sunday of Lent C

My sisters and brothers, God offers us all a wonderful homecoming; but will we be as gracious as our Divine host? 

In our reading from Joshua the people of Israel take possession of the land of Canaan!  Their wandering are over, home is within their grasp. In thanks for Gods gift of the Promised Land, the Israelite men are circumcised; apparently this was not practiced during their wanderings.  Also, the whole community celebrates the feast of Passover.  Now that they have entered the Promised Land, Manna is no longer needed; they can now live off the harvest.  One life ends, and another begins. 

In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul rhapsodizes on the forgiveness (reconciliation) we have in Christ.  He understands this as Christ having taken away our unworthiness and made us worthy - through his self sacrifice.  Paul, no longer judges anyone by worldly standards (human point of view, as he once did (when he was a Pharisee).  He now sees Jesus as the risen one, the reconciler and has completely changed his point of view. 

By new creation, Paul is probably referring to a new standard of judgment, set by Christ for the Church.  They have been radically changed through the process of reconciliation, of Christ returning humankind to oneness with God. 

Our Gospel is the well known story of The Prodigal Son.  It is about the return of the selfish play boy to his father in repentance and the anger of the still self-righteous, Mr. Perfect, older brother.  Who was simply self-righteous not truly good?  

The context of the story is that: the dregs of society (tax collectors and sinners) are coming to Jesus.  This causes the religious leaders (the Pharisees and the scribes) to wonder whether Jesus sees anyone as beyond Gods mercy.  To explain, Jesus tells three parables: the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin and the Lost (or Prodigal) Son.  In all three, the recovery of what was lost is cause for rejoicing.  In other words, there are no limits to Gods mercy. 

Culturally, the Prodigal Son story has several elements that are out of the ordinary:

*                    for a son to ask his father for his share of the inheritance would be like a death wish;

*                    no older self respecting Jew would run to his son;

*                    A father would typically demand a full display of repentance, not the truncated one we see in the story. 

Clearly Jesus tells a somewhat unrealistic story to make a point.

Returning, reconciling or home coming are powerful themes today.  Israel (under the military leadership of Joshua) clam possession of Canna (the Promised Land).  The Prodigal Son sees the error of his ways and makes a penitent return home.  God, as father of the prodigal receives him warmly.  God guides and empowers Joshua to lead the people in reclaiming their home of their ancestors.

We have all had the experience of apologizing for mistakes and wrongs done.  Many of us have experienced some kind of homecoming.  Weather returning to our old school or home town after absences or some other contexts.  They are often bitter sweet experiences.  We are joyful to see old friends and family, to see the old favorite haunts, but people and places do change - it’s never really the same as we left it.  There can even be individuals who harbor old grudges which they simply refuse to forgive.  Others may become jealous of how we have changed or simply wish we had stayed gone.  Our prodigal Son story is like that.  The older brother would not let go of his resentment and would not forgive his younger brother.  But the power of this story is not just that it demonstrates the lavish forgiveness that God offers the returnee, but it also reminds us, who never strayed, or came back earlier, that we are called by God to extend the same kind of forgiveness that we have received. 

This week, let us ask God for the grace we need to accept both the forgiveness God gives us and the forgiveness God gives to other.