“his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion”
The story of the Prodigal Son is one of the most popular stories in the Bible. In the story there are essentially three main characters: The younger son, the older son, and the father. This lesson will focus on the father.
Who does the father represent in this parable? “There is no doubt that in the simple but penetrating analogy the figure of the father reveals to us God as Father. The conduct of the father in the parable and his whole behavior, which manifests his internal attitude, enable us to rediscover the individual threads of the Old Testament vision of mercy in a synthesis which is totally new, full of simplicity and depth. The father of the prodigal son is faithful to this fatherhood, faithful to the love that he had always lavished on his son. The fidelity is expressed in the parable not only by his immediate readiness to welcome him home when he returns after having squandered his inheritance; it is expressed even more fully by that joy, that merrymaking for the squanderer after his return, merrymaking which is so generous that it provokes the opposition and hatred of the elder brother, who had never gone far away from his father and had never abandoned the home.”[i]
What does this parable teach us? “This is one of Jesus’ most beautiful parables, which teaches us once more that God is a kind and understanding Father (cf. Mt. 6:8; Rom. 8:15; 2 Cor. 1:3). The son who asks for his part of the inheritance is a symbol of the person who cuts himself off from God through sin. ‘Although the word ‘mercy’ does not appear, [this parable] nevertheless expresses the essence of the divine mercy in a particularly clear way’”[ii].
Why does the father welcome his younger son back? Any parent can speak to this—that the love for a child is so deep and so strong that when a child hurts them they will still love them with all their heart. Imagine a parent loses their child, does not know where he/she went, and even thinks that the child might be dead. When the child is found, the parent cannot help but be overjoyed and want to shower the child with love. “The father’s fidelity to himself…is at the same time expressed in a manner particularly charged with affection. We read, in fact, that when the father saw the prodigal son returning home ‘he had compassion, ran to meet him, threw his arms around his neck and kissed him’. He certainly does this under the influence of a deep affection, and this also explains his generosity towards his son, that generosity which so angers the elder son…Mercy – as Christ has presented it in the parable of the prodigal son - has the interior form of the love that in the New Testament is called agape. This love is able to reach down to every prodigal son, to every human misery, and above all to every form of moral misery, to sin. When this happens, the person who is the object of mercy does not feel humiliated, but rather found again and ‘restored to value’. The father first and foremost expresses to him his joy, that he has remained intact: even if he is a prodigal, a son does not cease to be truly his father’s son; it also indicates a good that has been found again, which in the case of the prodigal son was his return to the truth about himself.[iii]”
How can God be so loving, forgiving, and merciful? “God’s mercy is so great that man cannot grasp it: as we can see in the case of the elder son, who thinks his father loves the younger son excessively, his jealousy prevents him from understanding how his father can do so much to celebrate the recovery of the prodigal; it cuts him off from the joy that the whole family feels. ‘It’s true that he was a sinner. But don’t pass so final a judgment on him. Have pity in your heart, and don’t forget that he may yet be an Augustine, while you remain just another mediocrity’”[iv].
What should be our response when we see the Father running towards us as we come to repent? “When God runs towards us, we cannot keep silent, but with St. Paul we exclaim, Abba, Pater: ‘Father, my Father!’ (Rom. 8:15), for, though he is the creator of the universe, he doesn’t mind our not using high-sounding titles, nor worry about our not acknowledging his greatness. He wants us to call him Father; he wants us to savour that word, our souls filling with joy…God is waiting for us, like the father in the parable, with open arms, even though we don’t deserve it. It doesn’t matter how great our debt is. Just like the prodigal son, all we have to do is open our heart, to be homesick for our Father’s house, to wonder at and rejoice in the gift which God makes us of being able to call ourselves his children, of really being his children, even though our response to him has been so poor”[v].
[i] Commentaries of Gospel of Luke, pg. 176
[ii] Commentaries of Gospel of Luke, pg. 175
[iii] John Paul II, Dives in misericordia, 6
[iv] Commentaries of Gospel of Luke, pg. 178
[v] J. Escriva, Christ is passing by, 64