On this second Saturday of Lent, I'd like to reflect with you on the mercy of our Heavenly Father and the mercy of our Blessed Mother. Mercy figures prominent in today's readings, first from the Book of Micah, chapter seven, where we read: “Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance; who does not persist in anger forever, but delights rather in clemency, and will again have compassion on us, treading underfoot our guilt. You will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins. You will show faithfulness to Jacob and grace to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from days of old” (Micah 7:18–20).
My brothers and sisters, if the Lord is laying before us the grace of his mercy, it stands to reason that people who may be lost or confused or struggling with their sins be told about his mercy, be invited to receive his mercy. And this, my brothers and sisters, is what Jesus did throughout his entire public ministry. He was the good shepherd, out in search of the lost sheep.
And to some, because this required him spending time with sinners, and not only spending time with sinners but going to their place, eating and drinking with them, conversing with them, reasoning with them, but also welcoming them to come and join him for dinner, the tax collectors and sinners were told in the Gospel today, “were all drawing near to listen to Jesus. But the Pharisees and the scribes began to complain, saying, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them’” (Luke 15:1–2).
So Jesus told them the parable of the prodigal son to impress upon them how all-important is the mercy of God in their lives and in the lives of every brother and sister that they encountered. And Jesus, we know, the parable begins by saying that there was a man who had two sons, and the younger said to his father: “Father, give me the share of your estate that should come to me.” So the father divided the property between them (Luke 15:12).
After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country, where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation. See now, Jesus never said in the parable that he went to the father and asked his blessing to leave. No, he just asked of his father what his share of the inheritance would be. Who knows what reasons he could have given to him, to start up a business, to begin living on his own. Who knows? So many excuses from our young people who desire to move out of the home. Ultimately, it's just them seeking space, freedom from rules and laws and things that govern a household. And the father lets him go.
In any case, he set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance. And when he had spent everything and longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed and nobody gave him anything, “he came to his senses and thought, ‘How many of my father's hired workers have more than enough food and to spare? And here I am, dying of hunger. I shall get up and go to my father, and I will say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son. Treat me as you would treat one of your hired hands’” (Luke 15:17–19).
So he got up and went back to his father. How often does the Lord allow us to go through difficulties in our lives so as to wake us up? And if we notice, even when we're lost and when we're doing things we're not supposed to be doing, when Satan is condemning us for a sin we have committed, first he entices us, then when we commit the sin he condemns us. So many times our lives are at risk for things we may have done, and yet who is there protecting us through it all? Our Heavenly Father.
How many times has he shown us mercy and grace, worked in our hearts, and we were moved to repentance. So the younger of the two brothers here, the youngest son, comes to his senses and heads back to his father. Now he had no idea that the father never stopped loving him. He forgot about that in his guilt. He wallowed and thought he'd never be accepted back.
But our Lord came into this world to remind us that God is always waiting for us, and he rejoices when one of us decides to head back, to begin our lives anew, to do good, to pray, to spend time with God.
Now today being Saturday, we also remember that when we're returning home, often we return not only to a father and siblings, but to our precious mother. When we come back home, we ought to find our mother. So too in this parable we can include our Blessed Mother Mary, whom Jesus left us from the cross to always be by our side, to always beckon our hearts to mercy, to God.
And if the father in the parable was filled with compassion, ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him, imagine what the mother would have done. Mary, whose mercy shines forth at the wedding feast of Cana for that young couple who was going through a difficulty, but also beneath the cross, when she endured all things knowing that Jesus was atoning for our sins. So much did she pity us that she bore the wounds of her Son with valiant courage.
Mary, who has continually returned to this world, sent by God to invite us to receive mercy from on high and turn always to Jesus through her intercession. The mother who loves us more than we can ever imagine.
May she draw us ever closer to the power and life-changing love of God, whose heart beats for us always, even when we are lost, afraid and confused. He is there, right by your side to protect and guide us on our way back home.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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