ON THE JOY OF DISCOVERY

Br. Michael Angelo D. Dela Rosa, OP

The Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). Then he said, “A man had
two sons, and the younger son 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. 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. When he had freely spent everything, a
severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need. So he hired himself
out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine. And he longed to
eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any. Coming to his
senses he thought, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food
to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger. I shall get up and go to my father and I shall 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 workers.” So he got up and
went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him,
and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. His son
said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to
be called your son.’ But his father ordered his servants, ‘Quickly bring the finest robe and
put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and
slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has
come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.’ Then the celebration began. Now the
older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard
the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what this might
mean. The servant said to him, ‘Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered
the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ He became angry, and when he
refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him. He said to his father
in reply, ‘Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you
never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns
who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’
He said to him, ‘My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now
we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again;
he was lost and has been found.’”

On a practical application and in the context of the dynamics in the family, most would say
that it is a disgrace and disrespectful asking for what you can get, particularly an heirloom, when
your parents are still living. It is as if, one’s child is asking and looking forward for the death of
his parents so he could be able to get the piece of treasure that he could use for his own happiness,
whims and caprices, for his appetites to be sufficed and worldly allurements to be served. In the
parable we have cited, the son asked for his part from his father’s wealth and used it to enjoy all
the happiness the world has to offer—he ate, got drunk, and became merry, using all he had
received from disrespecting his father, thereby labeling him as the prodigal son—someone who
spends money and resources freely and recklessly.
 Some practical questions might arise: what might be the reason of the son in doing such
disgrace to his father? What might be the factors that made him ask his part from his father’s
wealth? It was not mentioned in the passage the prior events affecting the act of the prodigal son
asking his father’s wealth, so what might those events be? Aside from being genuinely merciful
as what we have read at the latter part of the parable, what are the other characters possessed by
the father? More so, we also have to give attention with the attitude of the elder son to his younger
brother. Was he jealous of what his father did to his younger son? Is this jealousy coming from the
elder son’s thought of doing also the same but repressing himself because of the responsibility that
he has to fulfill at the house of his father? Is there anything wrong with this reaction of the elder
brother: “Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never
gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed
up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.”? Human as he is, it is
perhaps part of his limitation to feel betrayed and disrespected, too because of his brother did to
their father.

Theologically, this parable could be viewed in two (2) ways: the Father’s infinite mercy and
our part of repentance in order to receive that mercy. The father in the parable indeed was merciful
towards the son, but this mercy of the father happened because of the son’s repentance and
realization of the disrespect he has done towards his father. The message of mercy in this parable
mirrors his mercy towards all of us, His children. In the end, the characters in this parable
symbolizes all of us: the father represents God that is merciful, the elder son are those who are
trying to measure God’s mind but do not understand His will and reasoning and sinners as we are,
we are the prodigal son that God is blessing with graces and still ask for more but only use them
for our own selfish happiness and worldly allurements. The Father knows that we have sinned for
innumerable times, but He is giving us the freedom if we have realized our faults, have seen our
mishaps and come back to Him and ask for forgiveness. This is the same idea why we have to
receive frequently the grace of the sacrament of reconciliation.

The reminder is then given to us. Our God is a merciful God, but it is not enough that we
know that He is merciful because we might have the tendency to abuse this mercy, we also need
to realize what we have done with the hopes that we have learned our lessons. In the parable that
we have cited, the son’s act of coming back to the father is the determining factor why the father
asks the servants to prepare a feast for him. We, too, is given this example to imitate that the Father
is always willing to forgive us, we just have to realize our sinfulness and come back to Him. We
do not know, He might also be preparing a feast for our come back.