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28. Of the prodigal
Son.
A man had two sons.
The younger one said, ‘Give me, father, the part of the property that
belongs to me.’ So he divided the property between them. Not long after,
the younger son gathered his wealth, moved to another country and
squandered it. When he had spent it all, a plague came to the land. He
began to starve and turned to a citizen of the country, who sent him to
his field to tend the pigs. In the evening, when he came home, he wished
to satisfy himself with the food that was thrown to the pigs, but no one
gave it to him. At last he reflected and said, ‘How many day-labourers
my father has who have food enough, and I am perishing with hunger. I
will go to my father and say to him, ‘I have sinned in heaven and before
you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me one of your
day labourers!’
He did as he had planned. When the father saw him from afar, coming in
his poverty and wretchedness, he was grieved. He went to meet him,
embraced him and kissed him. The son said, ‘Father, I have sinned in
heaven and before you. I am not worthy to be called your son.’ But the
father commanded his servants: ‘Bring the best robe and put it on him,
and a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet, and bring a fatted calf
and slaughter it. Let us eat and be merry, for this my son was dead and
is alive again. He was lost and has been found.’ So they began to
rejoice.
The eldest son was out in the field at the time. When he came home and
heard the singing and the round dance, he asked one of the servants what
it meant. The servant said: ‘Your brother has returned. Your father has
slaughtered a fatted calf for him in the joy of having him back.’ The
brother was angry at this and would not go in. The father went out to
him and spoke to him. The son said, ‘Behold, I have served you for so
many years and have never transgressed your commandment, but you have
never given me a goat that I might rejoice with my friends. Now that
your son has come, who has devoured his property with frivolous people,
you have slaughtered a calf for him.’ The father replied, ‘My son, you
are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But you should be
cheerful and of good cheer. For this brother of yours was dead and has
come back to life. He was lost and has been found.’
What does the story of the prodigal son tell us? Recklessness leads to
sin; sin leads to misfortune; misfortune leads to realisation and
repentance. Repentance of the right kind leads to the father. No father
can close his heart to the tears of his unhappy and remorseful child. He
accepts it again with compassion and with joy when it is mended. - God
is the merciful Father of old people who turn to him with trust. His
mercy is greater than the mercy of man.
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