Transformed by Christ

I wonder if Saint Paul was meditating on the parable we just heard proclaimed when he wrote: “Whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.  And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ.”

The son who was lost becomes a new creation by the power of the father’s unconditional, reconciling love.

This parable may be the best known of the whole Bible, perhaps only rivaled by the Parable of the Good Samaritan.  It is a simple yet timeless story that has captivated generations of Christians and non-Christians alike.

What makes it so attractive?  What is its power?

HOPE is what makes the parable attractive.  Generations of men and women have found hope and encouragement in the conversion experience of the young man who insulted his father by asking for his inheritance, misused his gifts and talents and then returned to his father’s house with intentions that were far from perfect.

What makes the son return home is not love for his father or perfect contrition – what makes him return to his father’s house is hunger.  He realized he could get nice, warm meals at his father’s house.

You can almost hear the young man rehearsing his words to his father to see if the old man would be fooled, “I shall say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.  I no longer deserve to be called your son.  Treat me as one of your hired workers.'”

The father however is completely uninterested in his son’s words.  He doesn’t even let his son finish what he had rehearsed.  The man never tells his father, “treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers” apparently because the father is too eager to tell his servants to prepare a feast.

The son’s complete, sincere repentance comes at experiencing the Father’s absolute and unconditional love.  “His father was filled with compassion; he ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.  Dress him up!  Kill the fatted calf!”  The young man came back with questionable intentions, but his return was enough for his father to forgive him and for them to be reconciled.

The son’s past life passes away immediately when he experiences his father’s love.  He is transformed into a new creation.  This process is not his own doing, but the father’s doing.  The father’s love transforms him inside and out.

Jesus invites us to place ourselves in the shoes of the son.  We can be certain that God will show us that same mercy and love if we turn to him.

Father Henri Nouwen, Dutch spiritual writer, wrote that we are the prodigal son every time we search for unconditional love where it cannot be found.

We are the prodigal son every time we seek true love by leaving our own home, the Father’s House, where we are already beloved children.

We are the prodigal son when we try to be independent and make life on our own without seeking, trusting and acknowledging God.

We are the prodigal son when we go into a distant country away from the healing mercy of God.

Some remain away from God because they believe their repentance and sorrow insufficient or imperfect.  Others consider one aspect of their life to be in such disarray that they are unworthy to approach the Lord.  Others get discouraged with habitual sins, vices, and repeated falls and think there is no hope for change.

This parable shows us otherwise: we must turn to the Lord regardless, with our imperfections and all, because it is He who can make us a new person and can help us get rid of the old.  We cannot transform ourselves, it is Christ who transforms us.

Saint Ignatius of Loyola once said that sometimes all we can muster is a desire to desire to be sorry.  He believed that to be enough of an opening for the Holy Spirit to bring reconciliation, light and hope into our lives.  It was enough for the transformation to begin.

May the remaining weeks of Lent be a time to continue turning to the Father trusting in his infinite mercy and love.  May our experience of the love of God present here among us transform us and fill us with hope by knowing that God comes to save us.