Homily for Saturday of the 2nd Week of Lent Year A (1)




Homily for Saturday of the 2nd Week of Lent Year A

Theme: The All Merciful God

By: Fr. Benny Tuazon

 

Homily for Saturday March 14 2020

(Lk.15:1-32) Saturday of the Second Week of Lent

In today’s Gospel Jesus told the so called Parable of the Prodigal Son. To others, they preferred to stress God’s generous mercy thus calling it the Parable of the Prodigal Father.

JESUS chose this situation to reveal God’s love and forgiving attitude to us. The sins of the younger son, asking for his inheritance while the father was still alive and squandering them through sinful ways, were enough for any father to forget him and consider him as good as dead. Yet, all day he waited and hoped for his return. Return he did and treated him as if nothing happened and gave back all his privileges as a son. Throw in the elder brother who did not hide his jealousy and anger against his younger brother and amazement and disbelief at his father’s actions. His character also hit a lot of people. The father’s response to him was classic.

God is indeed a mystery. At least, His mercy and compassion are hard to accept and understand. Not that He is not one but because we think it is impossible. Maybe there lies the difficulty. We are putting God in us rather than we in Him. The first reading from prophet Micah puts it best, “You will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins.” God holds no grudges at all. He looks at us, His creatures and made in His image, with unconditional and unfathomable love. Nothing and no one can make Him not love and forgive us. God wanted nothing but restore us to Himself.

It is clear that the fault or lack is in us. Why can we not just accept that we have a loving and forgiving God? In my experience as a confessor and pastor, I had known many who, even after receiving the sacrament, still do not believe having been forgiven. For them, what they had done were unforgivable. In fairness, I do agree that their sins were really mortal and of intense gravity. From the human point of view, they maybe unforgivable. But with God, nothing is unforgivable much more impossible. There lies the key, I believe. Who is God for us? Do we reduce Him to be one like us, maybe just a lot better? Or do we really regard Him as divine and capable of great things like forgiveness?

Maybe we need to look around and reflect on our own lives. If God is indeed not that merciful and loving, where should we be now given the sins we have committed? What punishments should have been given to us? What should we have been deprived of in this world? Honestly, we are better off! Are not these testimonies of God’s love and mercy?

Greatest of these, of course, was giving His only Son to become one like us, suffered, and died. Needless to say we need to kneel down again in prayer and tell God our unworthiness and blindness. We need to empty ourselves and let God inebriate us. Hopefully, we will catch a glimpse of God’s divinity and be filled with His Spirit!

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