Fr. Michael Williams

In the gospels Jesus is intent on revealing the true nature of the Father; He wanted to teach people what God the Father was really like. Jesus reveals the truth about God. “It is the only Son, who is nearest to the Father’s heart, who has made him known”. Jesus reveals that, “God is love” and that “God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son”.

So often our image of God can be out of focus because of our limitations, our weaknesses and our sins. All of this can cloud our vision of what God is like. Jesus is the one who came to put things back into focus. What Jesus says about the Father is the truth: “The Father is full of gentleness and compassion”.

In the parable we see that the Father is merciful with the son who wasted the inheritance that was given to him. The Father in the story waits patiently for his son who has gone to a distant country, “where he squandered his money on a life of debauchery”. The Father waits long-sufferingly, with no hint of trying to intimidate his son into changing: He just waits. The Father is not forceful; he waits and prays for his son’s return. That is the attitude we must adopt with people we know have wandered far from God by the kind of lives they are living.

Once the prodigal returns “The Father does not abuse the [prodigal] son for his carelessness and selfishness” (LT Johnson); rather he runs out to meet the son “moved with pity”. The Father “clasped him in his arms and kissed him tenderly”. He then has “the best robe” put on him and has “a ring [put] on his finger”. The “fattened” calf is killed and a major celebration follows. The Father does not reprimand his lost son, who is now found. He is just overjoyed that the son has returned.

It is worth remembering that the prodigal son has to make a decision to change, “he came to his senses”, recognising he needed to repent and change. When he was squandering his inheritance the prodigal son seemed unaware that what he was doing was wrong; he was caught in a cycle of selfishness and sin. But then in his wretched state he realises his wrongdoing, and decides to make the change. His conscience was awakened.

The parable of the prodigal son gives us a true picture of what Our Father in heaven is like. There are voices and powers at work in this world that try to say something else: they try to say that God does not care or God does not exist. But the truth about God is revealed in the gospel today.

As followers of Jesus, we are in the business of making the truth about God known to the world. We want the world to know that God is good: that’s what Jesus did. As it was Jesus’ mission to reveal to the world the true face of God, so it is our mission to do the same. In our lives we are to reveal to the world: “The Father is full of gentleness and compassion”.