DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Joshua 5,9a.10-l2; 2 Corinthians 5,17-21; Luke 15,1-3, 11-31: 4th Sunday of Lent, Year C, 2019)
The few verses of the first reading, Joshua 5,9a.10-12, provide modest sketches of two significant transitions through which Israel passed. The first transition was social. No longer would the people of Israel have to endure the degradation that was their lot in Egypt. Instead, they had been transported into a land where they could worship their own God freely and openly. The second transition was their passage from total dependence for their nourishment on bread from heaven (manna) to a dependence on bread from the earth. This was a new period in their history. The promise of a land flowing with milk and honey had been fulfilled. This passage also records the first celebration of Passover in the land of promise to commemorate God's having rolled away the reproach of Egypt and having fulfilled the promise of land made to the ancestors.
The few verses of the first reading, Joshua 5,9a.10-12, provide modest sketches of two significant transitions through which Israel passed. The first transition was social. No longer would the people of Israel have to endure the degradation that was their lot in Egypt. Instead, they had been transported into a land where they could worship their own God freely and openly. The second transition was their passage from total dependence for their nourishment on bread from heaven (manna) to a dependence on bread from the earth. This was a new period in their history. The promise of a land flowing with milk and honey had been fulfilled. This passage also records the first celebration of Passover in the land of promise to commemorate God's having rolled away the reproach of Egypt and having fulfilled the promise of land made to the ancestors.
Reconciliation that puts an end to the enmity between God and man is the heart of the message of the second reading, 2 Corinthians 5,17-21. God reconciled us and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. Paul states very clearly that God and God alone is the one who accomplishes these marvels through Christ. Though he was innocent he became the sin-offering for the guilty. Joined to Christ, those very ones now share in the righteousness of Christ and, through Christ, in the righteousness of God. Paul's ministry (diakonia, service) of reconciliation is his proclamation of the message (logon, word) of reconciliation accomplished by God. Having himself been reconciled with God, Paul now becomes the agent through whom God works in the lives of others.
The parable in the gospel reading of today has double focus. While it is clearly about the mercy God shown to repentant sinners, it also contrasts God's openness with the closed-mindedness of those who consider themselves faithful. There is no question about the depraved behaviour of the younger son. With his third of the father's estate (the elder son would get a double portion), he abandons his father's home and even his own country, and he embarks on a life of dissipation. Just as the separation with his past was decisive, so the straits/difficulties within which he finds himself are extreme. However, his eventual repentance is as sweeping as was his disgrace. He is willing to acknowledge his sin and even relinquish any filial claims if he can only be treated as one of his father's hired workers. The picture of the father is also straightforward. He initially put no obstacles in his son's path but gave him his share of the estate. He disregards convention and runs out to welcome this son home. He treats him as one brought back to life, lavishly clothing him, giving him sandals, which would distinguish him as a son rather than a barefooted servant, hosting a sumptuous feast in his honour. He is no less attentive to the elder son, going out to plead with him to join the celebration, assuring him the major portion of the estate. The father is neither domineering nor disinterested. He respects the decisions of both his sons even when he disagrees with them. When it becomes clear they have been mistaken, he forgives them. This startling new picture becomes the metaphor for understanding God. The elder son strikes an interesting pose. He resents his father's unrestrained joyous treatment of the errant one. Just as the younger son had formerly repudiated his family, so this son refuses to participate in a family affair, and he will not even refer to the younger son as his brother. Unlike that dissolute one, he has always obeyed orders; he has served his father like a slave (douleuo); and yet he has never even received a goat with which to feast. Though the elder brother contrasts his loyalty with the infidelity of the younger one, Jesus is really contrasting the compassion of God with the mean spiritedness of the Pharisees and scribes. Like the elder brother, they lack compassion, and they seem to resent the fact that God is merciful toward sinners who repent.
In the midst of Lent we are given a moment for rejoicing, Laetare Sunday. All of the readings provide us with reasons for this rejoicing. The overarching theme is the prodigal goodness of God. The sentiments found in the responsorial psalm set the context for the reflections. The other readings show how needy people were showered with divine favour. However, even in the midst of this rejoicing we find a challenge. We must undergo a change of heart if we are to rejoice in God. Our gracious God has given us a world that freely nourishes our every need. God brought the people of Israel into the promised land flowing with milk and honey. This is what he has done for us Nigerians. He blessed us with all types of crops, vegetables and fruits. What of rich mineral resources and good naturedness of a greater number of Nigerians that God bestowed on us? For this we rejoice. However, this picture of abundance and rich mineral resources is idyllic. We know that we fail even in the face of such blessing. We do not always live as freed people, and we do not always allow others to live freely. Sometimes we hoard the fruits of the land; at other times we ravage the land; in many occasions we thrust our people back to want and poverty. We bring back upon ourselves the reproach that was lifted from us by God. This Sunday is a time for us to rejoice in the goodness of God and to recommit ourselves to fidelity to that goodness, by at least using to the benefit of the needy the material resources God endowed us with the goodness of God is strikingly portrayed in the radically new image of father that enables us to understand God in remarkably new ways. This is a God who allows us to follow our own dreams, who is partial to no one, who faithfully and patiently waits for us to return, who gently corrects our misperceptions. God longs to be reconciled with us even more than we long to be reconciled with God, and it is God's desire that we be reconciled with one another as well. God's prodigality is incredible. No limit is set on the celebration for the one who was been brought to life, and the other one is told,Everything I have is yours.
This parable of the gospel reading reveals what is required of us if we are to rejoice. First, we must realise that the reason for rejoicing is the goodness of God. The wild son had to acknowledge his failure and humbly return to his father. It is only when we embrace such sentiments that we will be able to rejoice. The elder son would have to overcome his resentment of his brother's newly acquired good fortune and his disappointment in his father's willingness to forgive. It is only when we can embrace these sentiments as well that we will be able to rejoice. Rejoicing for God's reasons is not always easy. This Sunday is an opportunity for us to so do.
The challenges placed before us in the other readings set out some of the conditions required of us if we are to be a new creation. We are called to a profound and total reconciliation, first with God and then with one another. The actual reconciling act is God's, but as is always the case, we must freely respond to God's initiative. The extent to which God has gone to be reconciled with us is astounding. Christ was identified with sin so we might be identified with God's righteousness. Who would have ever imagined such a marvel? This is certainly reason for rejoicing. But once again, we must be open to God's graciousness in Christ; we must be willing to be reconciled. Reconciliation requires that we be open to giving and receiving forgiveness. It requires that we both remember and forget. We must always remember the causes of alienation so we do not succumb to them again. However, we must forget the resentment we felt so we do not allow it to influence our lives. The reconciliation that comes from God comes with a commission. Having ourselves been reconciled, we are given the ministry of reconciliation. We now become the instruments through whom the world is reconciled to God in Christ. We become ambassadors of salvation. The gospel story of the brothers is unfinished. Were they ever reunited? Perhaps their reconciliation is up to us. May we in the Eucharistic celebration of today pray earnestly for the graces to be as prodigal as God in generosity and also to be ready to respond positively to God’s invitation to reconcile to Him and to one another. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye
No comments:
Post a Comment