For years, since our oldest was a toddler, we’ve had a
framed print of the Return of the Prodigal Son by Spanish artist Bartolome
Esteban Murillo hanging in our dining room.
It’s a popular picture with toddlers because there’s a cute dog lapping at the feet of the newly returned wayward son. I think every one of our kids, as toddlers, has pointed out that dog. Actually, they seem fascinated by the dog. That dog helps tell the story for them. You can easily tell that the dog is excited, eager to share in the important event that happening in this picture. Even toddlers get the sense that this is not just a picture, it’s a family photo and it tells a story.
The parable of the Prodigal Son, which only appears in the Gospel of St. Luke, is very much a Lenten story – our Lenten story. This passage is one of the options for the Fourth Sunday of Lent, on March 31. This story is rich with lessons of love, mercy, forgiveness, and even parenthood.
Murillo depicts the father as a kind, almost elderly, man. The tenderness with which he embraces his son is clear – you get the sense that this is a man who probably prayed unceasingly for his son, and never wavered in his faith that his child would return. Contemplating this scene made me realize that I don’t pray enough for my children. This is something I will work on this Lent, using this parable as a guide. We all need to pray daily for our children’s faith, for the health of their bodies, minds and souls, for their vocation journeys, for good decision-making, for living out their baptismal promises.
At the beginning of the parable, we’re not told if father and son argued or debated the son’s departure. We are only told that the son asked for his inheritance, which would have been a great insult to a father in those days, basically saying that he was declaring his father was already dead. And the father gave it to him. He divided everything he had and gave him half, most likely knowing that it would be squandered.
Madness, you say? Indeed. How many of us would give our kids $100, $50, or even $10 if we knew they would then go down the street and lose it, buy candy with all of it, or even waste it on drugs or alcohol? Hopefully none of us! But here’s the thing, we are called to raise our kids to the best of our ability, teach them right from wrong, hand on to them the faith and then, by golly, we have to let them go. We have to trust that we have raised them to make good decisions and if not, as in the case of the Prodigal Son, that they will eventually see the error of their ways and repent.
My husband and I are currently teaching our 16-year-old daughter how to drive. Right now she has to have one of us in the car with her at all times. But some day, when she has her full licence and we have confidence that she is ready, we will let her drive by herself, just as our parents did with us. Now, some day, down the road, is it possible she could cause or be the victim of an accident (God forbid!), so maybe it would be better if we scrap this whole licence thing and keep her under wraps until she moves out on her own? Of course not. We have to give her the tools she needs to make good choices and then trust her, or she will never learn how to be a responsible adult.
Obviously, we have all been in the shoes of the Prodigal Son. Except God hasn’t just given us half of everything, He’s given us everything in Jesus Christ. He offers us the gift of eternal life – it doesn’t get any better than that! Yet, we are often squanderers. We don’t use the gifts and blessings he has bestowed on us to the best of our ability. We fall short, we sin. But he will always welcome us back, with open arms, if – and this is essential – we are truly repentant. The words of repentance of the Prodigal Son are repeated twice in the parable: “Father I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.”
No, we certainly don’t “deserve” to be called sons and daughters of God, but he has done just that – called us His children. As parents, we know our children’s behaviour doesn’t always give us the warm and fuzzies, but it doesn’t change our abiding love for them.
This parable of the Prodigal Son is often used as an example from Scripture that supports the sacrament of confession. Lent is the perfect time to make this sacrament a must for your family and you can use this Gospel passage to help get everyone ready. Put yourself in the father’s shoes, the son’s shoes, the other brother’s shoes, and see, with the eyes of mercy, where we need repentance and forgiveness in our lives.
We can all share in the excitement of that little pup in Murillo’s painting. We can all be eager to share in the family reunion of love and mercy. As we prepare to celebrate the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus, we are given this precious time of 40 days to really examine our lives. Let’s not squander any of it.
Lazzuri writes from her home in Nova Scotia, where she lives with her husband and six children.
