4th SUNDAY OF LENT (C)

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.

Lk 15:1-3. 11-32

GOSPEL EXPLANATION

Luke 15 is made up of an introduction and three parables about the great joy that comes from finding what was lost. The parables are:
• One lost sheep out of 100 sheep
• One lost coin out of 10 coins
• One lost son out of 2 sons

What occasioned the parable?

The scribes and Pharisees were objecting to at how Jesus receives and mingles with people who were branded as sinners. Jesus tells them that God is happy when his children who have lost their way return to him. Jesus invites them to join in God’s happiness—he wants them to be happy for them, too.

Is there a difference among the three parables?

The parables of the lost sheep and the lost coins show how God seeks out his wayward children.
The parable of the Prodigal Son on the other hand, shows the joy of God when his lost children repents.

The traditional title of the third parable is the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Are there other titles given to this parable?

This parable has been called the Parable of the Lost Son and also the Parable of the Son who has been found.

But the parable is really about the father. Hence, it has been called the Parable of the Loving Father. It has been also called the Parable of the Prodigal Father. He was lavish with love for his younger son.

How is the parable structured?

The parable consists of two parts: the father and the prodigal son and the father with the elder son.

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.

To the Jews the pig is an unclean animal. For the younger son to be forced to take care of pigs is an indication of his desperate situation.

The pods were the fruits of a tree that were used to feed the animals. The wil-lingness of the boy to eat even what the pigs were eating is another indication of the precariousness of his situation.

He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him…‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.'

The kiss of the father was a sign that the son has been pardoned.

The ring was a sign of authority.

Sandals. The servants and slaves were unshod. Freemen wore sandals. It meant that the father was taking the boy as a son and not as a servant.

Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders.

The elder son represented the Pharisees. In the mouth of the Pharisees, these words meant that they obeyed all the requirements of the Law.

But when your son returns….

The elder brother refused to accept the younger son as his brother.

But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again….

The father reminds the elder son that the younger son was still his brother just as he is his son.
When sinners accept the invitation of Jesus to repent, the Pharisees should also rejoice with God who finds joy in the return of the sinner.

Did the elder son come in and join the celebration?

We are not told because it is something which his hearers (the Scribes and Pharisees) will have to answer for themselves.