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Lent 2007
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Year C: Fourth Sunday of Lent The Gospel: Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32 The Prodigal Son is one of those Gospels that we have read and heard so often that we are tempted to switch off when we see it coming. How can we try to hear it today with fresh ears? If you look again at the reference at the beginning of the Gospel, you will see that some verses have been “missed out”. This is not because they are not important - but because we are being asked to focus on one story. Human nature being what it is, though, we can’t help wondering what has been missed out. In fact, this can often help us to set the Reading into its context - to find what went before - what comes after - and what Jesus was trying to get across. The introduction has the scribes and Pharisees complaining that Jesus spends too much time with sinners. As far as they were concerned, such people had put themselves outside God’s love and mercy. In reply, Luke records three parables that Jesus told to explain what He was doing - the Lost Sheep - the Lost Coin and the Prodigal Son. These are all stories of the pain people feel when they have lost something precious and the lengths they will go to to get it back. The Father in the story lets the Prodigal Son have his own way - but his pain is shown by his watching and waiting and longing for his son to come home. When he does, the Father greets him with great joy and holds a banquet in celebration of the one who was lost being restored to his rightful place. So it is with God. He feels the pain of our separation and our thinking we know best and longs for our return. That is what repentance means. It is not about making ourselves miserable - but recognising our faults and failings and then marvelling that, in spite of them, our Father loves us and longs for us to come home. What does it mean for me?
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