Tội lỗi của người con cả là tội vô ơn và sự vô nghĩa đối với Cha của mình và tội ghen tương, ích kỷ đối với người em của mình. Qua bài dụ ngôn này, Chúa Giêsu muốn chúng ta phải biết thay đổi cách sống dưng dưng của chúng ta đối với người khác, không phải là chỉ biết ăn năn, nhưng chúng ta cũng phải biết tha thứ, cũng phải có tấm lòng tri ơn người khác, những ai đã giúp chúng ta dù ít hay nhiều, nhưng điều quan trọng nhất là chúng ta phải tỏ lòng biết ơn đối với Thiên Chúa, và cũng phải có lòng từ bi nhân hậu hơn đối với những người đi lạc lối, phản nghịch cùng chúng ta.
Lạy Chúa, Xin thương giúp chúng con mỗi khi chúng con phạm tội phản nghịch củng Chúa và người những người thân yêu chung quanh chung con như người con hoang đàng kia, xin Chúa hướng dẫn ban cho chúng con được ân sủng của sự ăn năn, biết can đảm tìm về với Chúa.
Lạy Chúa xin giúp đánh động tâm hồn chúng con và đem đến với chúng con sự vui mừng, biết rộng lượng, tha thứ và lòng biết ơn mỗi khi tâm hồn của chúng con trở nên eo hẹp nhỏ mọn, vì sự ghen tỵ, ích kỷ đã biến chúng con thành kẻ vô ơn, bất nghĩa, không còn sự thông cảm cho người khác như người con lớn trong bài dụ ngôn,
Saturday 2nd Week of Lent
Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son is one of the greatest Biblical stories. It is easy for many people, at least in some degree, to identify themselves with the Prodigal Son as they reflect on their need for repentance and forgiveness.
In reality, however, most of us rather tend to be like the elder son. We do not abandon God as the younger son abandoned his father. We do not live dissolute lives and or end up in a total mess. Most of us are very ordinary decent people — neither great saints nor great sinners. Our faults and failings mostly make us like the elder son: we stay with God, we are true to our religion and we practise our faith, but sometimes we are too wrapped up in ourselves and do not always appreciate what God gives us.
The elder son’s sins were ingratitude and ungraciousness towards his Father and self-centred righteousness towards his younger brother. Praying over the parable from this perspective may lead us towards greater gratitude to God, and a greater compassion for those who do go astray.
Heavenly Father, when we are no better than the Prodigal Son, grant us the grace of repentance. When our narrowness of heart and our ingratitude make us unsympathetic to others, touch our hearts with gladness and gratitude.
Saturday of the Second Week of Lent 2023
“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.” Luke 15:22–24
This was the reaction of the faithful son in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Recall that after squandering his inheritance, the Prodigal Son returns home humiliated and poor, asking his father if he will take him back and treat him as if he were a hired hand. But the father surprises him and throws a huge party for the son to celebrate his return. But the father’s other son, the one who remained with him throughout the years, would not join in the celebration.
Was it fair that the father killed the fatted calf and threw this large party to celebrate his wayward son’s return? Was it fair that that same father apparently never even gave his faithful son a young goat to feast on with his friends? The right answer is that this is the wrong question.
It’s easy for us to live in such a way that we always want things to be “fair.” And when we perceive that another receives more than us, we can get angry and bitter. But asking whether or not this is fair is not the right question. When it comes to the mercy of God, God’s generosity and goodness far exceed what is perceived as fair. And if we are to share in the abundant mercy of God, we too must learn to rejoice in His superabundant mercy.
In this story, the act of mercy given to his wayward son was exactly what that son needed. He needed to know that no matter what he had done in the past, his father loved him and rejoiced in his return. Therefore, this son needed an abundance of mercy, partly to reassure him of his father’s love. He needed this extra consolation so as to become convinced that he made the right choice in returning.
The other son, the one who had remained faithful throughout the years, was not treated unfairly. Rather, his discontent came from the fact that he himself lacked the same abundant mercy present in the heart of his father. He failed to love his brother to the same extent and, therefore, failed to see the need to offer this consolation to his brother as a way of helping him understand he was forgiven and welcomed back. Mercy is very demanding and far exceeds what we may at first perceive as rational and just. But if we desire to receive mercy in abundance, we must be ready and willing to offer it to those who need it the most.
Reflect, today, upon how merciful and generous you are willing to be, especially toward those who do not appear to deserve it. Remind yourself that the life of grace is not about being fair; it’s about being generous to a shocking extent. Commit yourself to this depth of generosity toward all and look for ways that you can console another’s heart with the mercy of God. If you do, that generous love will also bless your heart in abundance.
My most generous Lord, You are compassionate beyond what I can fathom. Your mercy and goodness far exceed what any of us deserve. Help me to be eternally grateful for Your goodness and help me to offer that same depth of mercy to those in most need. Jesus, I trust in You.
Saturday 2nd Week of Lent 2023
2. Unmysterious Suffering: Suffering (and even death) is the natural consequence of sin, unmysterious and predictable. The prodigal son took very specific actions to achieve his goals, and these actions, being sinful, bore in themselves the seeds of suffering. He unjustly demanded his inheritance, abandoned his family, squandered his funds, and lived hedonistically. Life admits only two models: first the fast, then the feast—or the other way around. Now, our conscience warns us that living from feast to feast, indulging our selfishness and egoism, is unsustainable. Famine will come, and we know it. The Scriptures testify to this by the manner in which the younger son began his path of conversion–by “coming to his senses.” He was taking stock of the nature of his suffering, of its self-evident causes, which led him to change his behavior. We, too, must be ready to turn away from our sins this Lent; when we do, we may find some of our sufferings relieved.
3. Indiscriminate Mercy: The greatest figure of the parable is the merciful father. His mercy was indiscriminate, showered on older son and younger son alike. Though he himself suffered, he was able to forgive the sins of his children and thereby alleviate their suffering. Perhaps it was precisely through his own suffering that he comprehended theirs. Now, God does not suffer as we suffer. But we can say, according to our human mode of speaking, that his greatest pain is to see us fall into sin. He knows that sin will not make us happy; he knows that to sin is to tend swine. And so, being the good God that he is, he has mercy on us. We are always welcome back home.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, preserve me from all sin today. Help me to avoid the suffering I can avoid and to accept (by your grace) the suffering I cannot.
Reflection Saturday 2nd Week of Lent 2023
Sometimes some of us do not understand how God works. He gives blessings to those who have gone and come back and nothing to those who stay by His side. But is it really nothing? No. We work in order to give back what He has given us, and He has given us so much, even His only begotten Son. In verse 31, the Father voiced out that everything He has is ours and He is glad that we are by Him. This is the reward, of being by His side and being saved from sin.
Not only does this story apply in the family, but also in relationships, friends or in a stressful work area. Which characters are we in the story? Do you see yourself as the younger son, or as the elder son? We may already have heard this story countless times, but there will always be a new way to look at it.
Meditation:
How can you love someone who turns their back on you and still forgive them from the heart? The prophets remind us that God does not abandon us, even if we turn our backs on him (Micah 7:18). He calls us back to himself – over and over and over again. Jesus' story of the father and his two sons (sometimes called the parable of the prodigal son) is the longest parable in the gospels. What is the main point or focus of the story? Is it the contrast between an obedient and a disobedient son or is it between the warm reception given to a spendthrift son by his father and the cold reception given by the eldest son? Jesus contrasts the father's merciful love with the eldest son's somewhat harsh reaction to his errant brother and to the lavish party his joyful father throws for his repentant son. While the errant son had wasted his father's money, his father, nonetheless, maintained unbroken love for his son. The son, while he was away, learned a lot about himself. And he realized that his father had given him love which he had not returned. He had yet to learn about the depth of his father's love for him. His deep humiliation at finding himself obliged to feed on the husks of pigs and his reflection on all he had lost, led to his repentance and decision to declare himself guilty before his father. While he hoped for reconciliation with his father, he could not have imagined a full restoration of relationship. The father did not need to speak words of forgiveness to his son; his actions spoke more loudly and clearly! The beautiful robe, the ring, and the festive banquet symbolize the new life – pure, worthy, and joyful – of anyone who returns to God.
The prodigal could not return to the garden of innocence, but he was welcomed and reinstated as a son. The errant son's dramatic change from grief and guilt to forgiveness and restoration express in picture-language the resurrection from the dead, a rebirth to new life from spiritual death. The parable also contrasts mercy and its opposite – unforgiveness. The father who had been wronged, was forgiving. But the eldest son, who had not been wronged, was unforgiving. His unforgiveness turns into contempt and pride. And his resentment leads to his isolation and estrangement from the community of forgiven sinners. In this parable Jesus gives a vivid picture of God and what God is like. God is truly kinder than us. He does not lose hope or give up when we stray. He rejoices in finding the lost and in welcoming them home. Do you know the joy of repentance and the restoration of relationship as a son or daughther of your heavenly Father?
"Lord Jesus, may I never doubt your love nor take for granted the mercy you have shown to me. Fill me with your transforming love that I may be merciful as you are merciful."
Comment: Fr. Llucià POU i Sabater (Vic, Barcelona, Spain)
I will get up and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against God and before you
Today we see our Father's mercy, His distinctive feature in Heaven, while gazing at an orphan Mankind —orphan because forgetful— which does not know it is a child of God. Cronin speaks of a son that left home, squandered all his money, his health, the family honor... was finally imprisoned. Shortly before being freed, he wrote to his home: if he was forgiven, they should hang a white handkerchief in the apple tree, next to the railway. If he could spot it, he would return home; otherwise, he would never come back... The day of his freedom, while arriving home, he didn't dare to look... Would there be a handkerchief? «Open your eyes!... look!», a friend tells him. And he remained speechless: on the apple tree there was not a single white handkerchief... there were hundreds of them; it was full of white handkerchiefs.
It reminds us of the Rembrandt's painting where it can be seen the son that comes back, destitute and famished, who is hugged by an old man, with two different hands: one, from the father that holds him tight; the other, from the mother, sweet and tender, that caresses him. God is Father and Mother.. «Father, I have sinned» (Lk 15:21), we wish to say it too, and feel God embrace in the Sacrament of Confession, while participating in the Eucharistic feast: «We shall celebrate and have a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has come back to life. He was lost and is found» (Lk 15:23-24). Thus, since «God is waiting for us —each and every day!— like that father of the parable was waiting for his prodigal son» (Saint Josemaria), let's keep on marching in with Jesus to the encounter with the Father, where all becomes clear: «The mystery of man can only be solved through the mystery of the Incarnated Word» (II Vatican Council). The protagonist is always the Father. Let's beg the desert of Lent to take us to internalize this appeal to participate in the divine compassion, as life is nothing but gradually returning to the Father.
Reflection:
In this parable the father represents our Lord God who is ever forgiving of our wrongdoings. He offers us mercy and allows us to repent so we may be able to receive His grace. The younger son has everything, and yet he chooses to live on his own. In the end when everything goes wrong and he has nowhere to go to and nothing to eat, he realizes his mistake. He lowers his pride and in words of a layman, he says, "Sorry." On the other hand, the elder son obeys and works for his father. Seeing his younger brother come back and his father accepting him with open arms maddens him. How come his hard work has not proved to have any reward to bear fruit, and yet his younger brother who has not even bothered to work received such rewards?
Sometimes some of us do not understand how God works. He gives blessings to those who have gone and come back and nothing to those who stay by His side. But is it really nothing? No. We work in order to give back what He has given us, and He has given us so much, even His only begotten Son. In verse 31, the Father voiced out that everything He has is ours and He is glad that we are by Him. This is the reward, of being by His side and being saved from sin.
Not only does this story apply in the family, but also in relationships, friends or in a stressful work area. Which characters are we in the story? Do you see yourself as the younger son, or as the elder son? We may already have heard this story countless times, but there will always be a new way to look at it.
Meditation: Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 2nd Week of Lent
Imagine for a minute that you are the prodigal son. You have taken off with your father’s money and now have nothing to show for it. What you’ve done with it, you can’t mention out loud. You’re so deep in debt you can’t feed yourself, so you’re starving. Your life is so complicated that you can’t see any way out.
Mercifully, not many of us get to that point. And yet, some of us have had experiences we can’t mention in public. Some of us have squandered God’s grace recklessly or foolishly. Some of us are spiritually starving for God’s love and affection, forgiveness and affirmation.
If that’s you, do what the prodigal son did! Go to your heavenly Father, and tell him the truth about your life as only you know it. Tell him the worst that you know about yourself, and start a conversation with him. Yes, it can be frightening and humbling. The prodigal son probably struggled with those feelings, too. Say whatever occurs to you, or use the prodigal’s words, “Father, I have sinned and don’t deserve to be called your child.”
When you go to God like this, you’ll likely be amazed at his response. He won’t deal with you according to your sins! He is outrageously rich in mercy, love, and compassion. His kindness and goodness are limitless. And they are for you.
So start the conversation this Lent. What have you done? What have you failed to do? What do you lack? What do you need? Get up and go to your Father, however ill-equipped or unprepared you feel. Go ahead and confess your sins. Celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and leave your sins at your Father’s feet.
Then, let God meet you with the same joyful, generous, and kind welcome that the father in today’s reading had for his younger son. The psalmist tells us, “As far as the east is from the west, so far have our sins been removed from us” (Psalm 103:12). As parents feel for their children, God feels right now for you. He is waiting to take you in his arms and shower you with love!
“Father, I have sinned. Let me tell you about it today so that I can feel your love and kindness.”
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