Come Home: Lessons from the Prodigal Son

Many years ago - during Covid lockdowns - I took part in a book study with the Abiding Together Podcast, run by Sr. Miriam James Heidland, Heather Khym, and Michelle Benzinger. The book study was on The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen. There is much to be gleaned from that book, so much that I could probably fill another book. But there are a few things that I believe pertain directly to many issues we deal with in the church today.

Just this past Sunday, we heard the Gospel of the Prodigal Son. I wonder how many of us remember. Some of us are the younger son. Many of us are the elder son. But, we are being called to hear the voice of the Father, calling us to the one path before us that IS certain . . .

THE YOUNGER SON:

“And not many days after, the younger son, gathering all together, went abroad into a far country: and there wasted his substance, living riotously” (Douay-Rheims Version, Lk. 15. 13).

For many Catholics, the sacraments, liturgy, prayer, etc. are events which we participate in to varying degrees of authenticity. Some people attend Mass and merely go through the motions. Others do not attend because they do not see the point. “I’m a good Catholic. I don’t kill anyone. Why do I have to go to Mass?” The graces of Catholicism have become for these people much like the father’s gifts had become for the younger son in the story of the Prodigal Son: something to be taken for granted.

The younger son’s only interest was the inheritance promised him. The blessings of a home, a loving father, and much else besides had become for him (perhaps) a set of inconvenient rules to follow, preventing him from acquiring what he wanted. It was not until he squandered the inheritance and had everything taken away that the younger son saw his situation from a different perspective. He finally recognized his father’s gifts and desired everything he had left behind.

When these younger sons of the Church, often through hard times and misfortune, come home to the Church, they are more fervent and faithful than many a cradle Catholic. St. Augustine of Hippo, a reckless youth who came back to see the light and truth of the Church, wrote in Confessions:

“Belatedly I loved thee,

O Beauty so ancient and so new,

belatedly I loved thee.

For see, thou wast within and I was without,

and I sought thee out there.

Unlovely, I rushed heedlessly

among the lovely things thou hast made.

Thou wast with me, but I was not with thee.

These things kept me far from thee;

even though they were not at all

unless they were in thee.

Thou didst call and cry aloud,

and didst force open my deafness.

Thou didst gleam and shine,

and didst chase away my blindness.

Thou didst breathe fragrant odors

and I drew in my breath;

and now I pant for thee.

I tasted, and now I hunger and thirst.

Thou didst touch me,

and I burned for thy peace” (Augustine, ch. 27, par. 38).

Younger Sons, God has prompted an awakening in you – a renewal of love for the Church and her liturgy. You miss the sacraments. You miss the Eucharist. Recognize this longing as the loving father calling you home.

THE ELDER SON:

“Behold, for so many years do I serve thee, and I have never transgressed thy commandment . . .” (Lk. 15.29)

There is another group of Catholics, for whom the sacraments, liturgy, and prayer are their life source. They are the fervent followers of the Church, who attend Mass on a regular basis, because they genuinely understand and desire the life of Christ within their souls. Such individuals – to the best of their ability – have lived their lives in accordance with the Catholic Church and thrive off the sacraments God has given them.

At the time of the book study, it was no longer possible to attend Mass. In many places, it was impossible to adore the Eucharist in adoration. Receiving confession had been made difficult. The Easter liturgy in many diocese was significantly cut back. The elder sons of the Church were thrown into a state of despair. They felt keenly and rightly the loss of the Mass and the sacraments. Although they would not have worded it as such, they felt uncertain and slightly betrayed by God.

These Catholics are the elder son. They cry out to the father for justice. They too – just like the younger son – are afraid, but for a different reason. When their spiritual lifelines are cut and they have done nothing to deserve it, they cannot see a purpose in what God is allowing to happen. For such souls, the following quote from the Little Flower borders on heresy. St. Thérèse of Lisieux once wrote the following to a priest, Fr. Bellière. She was nearing the end of her life and was unable to receive the Eucharist, due to the intensity of her tuberculosis symptoms:

"No doubt, it is a great grace to receive the sacraments. When God does not permit it, it is good too! Everything is grace! . . . When I shall have arrived at port, I will teach you how to travel, dear little brother of my soul, on the stormy sea of the world: with the surrender and the love of a child who knows his Father loves him and cannot leave him alone in the hour of danger . . . The way of simple love and confidence is really made for you” (266-267).

Elder sons, you often feel like your faith in the midst of trials is thanked with only more trials. When graces God once bestowed on you are taken away and given to those less worthy, you feel a lack of justice. God is teaching you to trust in his power! Our God is a father who abandons all propriety to run to His prodigal children and welcome them home. Humble yourself enough to allow him to carry you.

THE FATHER:

“Son, thou art always with me, and all I have is thine . . . ” (Lk. 15.31)

Regardless of whether you are the elder or younger son at this season in your life, our loving Father has only one request and it is twofold:

1) We must trust that God has a plan that we cannot see,

2) and recognize the ways in which we have been blessed and give thanks!

Henri Nouwen writes in The Return of the Prodigal Son that “trust and gratitude are the disciplines for . . . conversion” (84). God is calling all of us – younger and elder sons alike – to trust in His Plan. He is drawing us closer to Him. We are desiring Him now like never before, and in so doing, being carved more sharply into our true identities: children of God, weak and humbled. This is our true identity, but so many of us have forgotten it in the worries and anxieties of adulthood. Nouwen describes spiritual childhood thus:

“Isn’t the little child poor, gentle, and pure of heart? Isn’t the little child weeping in response to every little pain? Isn’t the little child the peacemaker hungry and thirsty for uprightness and the final victim of persecution?” (55).

Younger Sons, God is teaching you to recognize your identity as His Beloved children and to trust in Him. Do not rely on worldly things that do not satisfy. Come home to his Church and the sacraments.

Elder Sons, God is teaching you to recognize your identity as His Beloved children and to trust in him, not in your own strength. His mercy is not limited by earthly or even heavenly rules; for, he created them all. You have clothed yourselves in Pharisee’s robes. He is stripping those away and revealing Himself to you in your vulnerability to be the father who comes running to His children.

Once we are able to fully embrace our identity as His children who have nothing to fear, we can truly recognize that we are home, no matter what perils threaten us. This kind of inner peace can withstand any trial. I leave you with this last reflection from Henri Nouwen. May God the Father hold you all close. May God the Son embrace you on His Cross. May God the Spirit enflame your hearts with His Love and enlighten your minds to know that you are royal children of a Loving Father and King. Trust Him and practice a spirit of gratitude for all His blessings!

“Home is the center of my being where I can hear the voice that says: ‘You are my Beloved, on you my favor rests’ . . . the same voice that speaks to all the children of God and sets them free to live in the midst of a dark world while remaining in the light . . . Faith is the radical trust that home has always been there and always will be there” (Nouwen 37-39).

Works Cited

Augustine. Augustine: Confessions. Translated and edited by Albert C. Outler, Texas, 1955, http://faculty.georgetown.edu/jod/augustine/conf.pdf. Acessed 21 March 2020.

Lisieux, Therese. Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. 3rd Ed. Translated by John Clarke, ICS Publications, Washington DC, 1996. Print.

Nouwen, Henri J. M. The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming. Doubleday, NY, 1992. Print.

The Douay-Rheims Version Bible. Maryland: Baronius Press, 2019. Print.