Coming Home: Hunger satisfied and hearts healed
Readings: Joshua 5:9 - 12 2 Corinthians 5: 17 - 21 Luke 15: 1 - 3, 11 - 32
Entrance Antiphon: Rejoice, Jerusalem! Be glad for her, you who love her; rejoice with her, you who mourned for her, and you will find contentment at her consoling breasts. (Is. 66: 10 - 11)
First Reading Joshua 5: 9 - 12 God shows His mercy in removing the reproach of Easter. God leads them to the promised land and feeds them with the finest wheat and gives them the bounty of the land. In the promised them, the keep the Passover.
Reflection question: Do I acknowledge Godfs blessings in my life? Do I make worship a regular part of my life and the life of children? Do I grasp that God showers mercy upon mercy on me?
Second Reading 2 Corinthians 5: 17 - 21 The reading from Paul begins with a bold proclamation: gTherefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has comeh (2 Corinthians 5:17). Can we say ggood newsh; can I get an AMEN? But this new creation requires reconciliation; it requires that I change; it requires that I allow the grace of God to overcome me and make me His own. We must be reconciled to God. Reflection question: Lent is quickly coming to its fulfillment. Do I need to go to Confession? What in me still needs to be reconciled to Christ and be made new in Christ. The time is now!
Communion Antiphon: My son, you should rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found. (Luke 15:32)
Gospel Luke 15: 1 - 3, 11 - 32 How well do we know the story of the Prodigal Son? Most likely, better than we would like to admit! Most likely we have easily pictured ourselves as the prodigal son who went away and spent ourselves in less than virtuous ways. Resentfully, we may be the son who stayed home and became angry at our fatherfs joy and mercy. Some of us may be the father, who full of joy goes out in mercy to great his son and restore him to his former dignity: the father remains true to his relationship with his son, just as God remains faithful to his relationship with us: full of mercy!
Reflection question: Who am I in the story of the prodigal son? Am I ready to allow God to heal my resentment or to heal my shame? Do I realize that at some point we have all been the prodigal son: filled with a hunger so profound, we realized that only our Father could satisfy our desire? It is that hunger which beckons us to come home filled with repentance.