The context: In today’s passage, taken from the
Sermon on the Mount, Jesus instructs his followers to be merciful,
non-judgmental, forgiving, and generous. He condemns our careless, malicious,
and rash judgments about another person’s behavior, feelings, motives, or actions.
St. Augustine explains it thus: “What do you want from the Lord? Mercy?
Give it, and it shall be given to you. What do you want from the Lord?
Forgiveness? ‘Forgive, and you will be forgiven.’”
Reasons why we should not judge others: 1) No
one except God is good enough to judge others because only God sees the whole
truth, and only He can read the human heart; hence, only He has the right and
authority to judge us.
2) We are often prejudiced in our judgment of
others, and total fairness cannot be expected from us.
3) We do not see all the facts, the
circumstances, and the power of the temptation which have led a person to do
something evil.
4) We have no right to judge others because we
have the same fault as, and often to a more serious degree than, the one we are
judging (remember Jesus’ funny example of a man with a wooden beam in his eye
trying to remove the dust particle from another’s eye?) St. Philip Neri
commented, watching the misbehavior of a drunkard: “There goes Philip
but for the grace of God.”
Life message: 1) We should leave all judgment to
God and practice mercy and forgiveness, remembering the advice of saints: “When
you point one finger of accusation at another, three of your fingers point at
you.” Let us pay attention to the Jewish rabbi’s advice: “He
who judges others favorably will be judged favorably by God.”
Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
March 3 Tuesday: St. Katharine Drexel, Virgin
(U.S.A): Mt 23:1-12:
The context: For Jesus, it was the third day of
the very first “Holy Week” in Jerusalem, a day of controversy and personal
attacks. Jesus, under fire from the religious leaders of Israel who reject Him
as the Messiah, faced them in the public forum and, in agape love, turned the
Light of Truth on their behavior. He showed them, in detail, where and how they
were failing themselves and their vocation- and so the Lord God. Then He
laid out the consequences of their mistaken choices, pronouncing eight woes against
them, and clearly identifying their behavior as hypocritical because they were
more concerned about self-promotion than serving others. These home
truths, spoken publicly, were intended to humble them, in order to cause them
to see themselves as God saw them, and, horrified, to reform.
Three sins of the Scribes and Pharisees:
Jesus raises three objections to the Pharisees: (1) “They do not
practice what they teach“ (v. 3). They lack integrity of life and fail
to practice what they preach, namely, justice, mercy, and charity.
(2) They overburden the ordinary people (v. 4). The scribes
and the Pharisees, in their excessive zeal for God’s laws, split the 613
laws of the Torah into thousands of rules and regulations affecting every
movement of the people, thus making God’s laws a heavy burden. (3) “They
do all their deeds to be seen by others“ (v. 5). Jesus accuses the
scribes and Pharisees of annexing the glory that rightly belongs to God.
They express their love of honor in several ways, thereby converting Judaism
into a religion of ostentation: (a) “They make their phylacteries broad and
their fringes long” (v. 5). b) They “love to have the
place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues” (v 6).
(c) They “love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to
have people call them rabbi” (v 7).
Life messages: 1) We need
servant-leaders in a serving community: The Church is a
servant-community in which those who hunger, and thirst are to be satisfied;
the ignorant are to be taught; the homeless are to receive shelter; the sick
are to be cared for; the distressed are to be consoled; and the oppressed
are to be set free. Hence, leaders should have a spirit of humble
service in thought, word, and deed. 2) We need to live the
Faith we profess. Our Faith tells us that we are all brothers and
sisters, children of the same Heavenly Father. Hence, we should
always pray for each other. Instead of judging the poor, we
should be serving them both directly and through our efforts on behalf
of economic justice. Instead of criticizing those of
other races, we should be serving them both directly and
through our efforts on behalf of racial justice. Instead of ignoring the
homeless, we should be serving them through efforts to
supply them with adequate housing. 3) We need to accept the
responsibilities which go with our titles. Titles and polite forms
exist to remind each of us of our specific responsibilities in
society. Hence, let us use everything we are and have in a way that
brings glory to God, by serving His children.
Fr. Tony(https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
March 4 Wednesday: St. Casimir: (1458-1483): Mt
20:17-28:
The context: We celebrate the feast of
St. James the apostle on July 25th. James was the son of Zebedee, the fisherman
and Salome, Mary’s sister (Mt 27:56). John the apostle was his brother. The
two, with Simon Peter, made up Jesus’ inner circle of disciples who were given
the privilege of witnessing the Transfiguration, the raising
to life of the daughter of Jairus, and Jesus’ agony in Gethsemane. Jesus called
James and John “sons of thunder,” probably because of their
volatile character and high ambitions. Later, James was known as James
the Greater to distinguish him from James the Less who
wrote the epistles and led the Jerusalem Church community. James the Greater
was probably the first apostle martyred by Herod in an attempt to please the
Jews (Acts 12:1-3)
The Gospel episode: The incident in today’s Gospel
describes how ambitious, far-sighted, and power-crazy James and his brother
John were in their youth. They sought the help of their mother to recommend
them to Jesus in their desire to be chosen as the two cabinet ministers closest
to Jesus when he established his Messianic kingdom after ousting the Romans.
But they picked the most inappropriate moment to make this request because
Jesus had just predicted his passion and death for a third time.
Jesus’ response: Jesus told them that it was the
spirit of service which would make his disciples great because he himself had
come, ”not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom
for many.”
Life message: 1: The leaders in Jesus’
Church must be the servants of all as Mary was (“Behold the
handmaid of the Lord”). That is why the Pope is called “the servant of
the servants of God.” The priesthood of the ordained priests is called
the ministerial priesthood because the duty of ordained
priests is to give spiritual services to the people of God who share the royal
priesthood of Christ by their Baptism (Rv 1:6; cf. 1 Pt 2:5,9). Church leaders
must be ready to serve others sacrificially with agape love in
all humility. In other words, leaders among Christians must be humble, loving,
selfless and “the servants of all.” Fr. Tony(https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
March 5 Thursday: Lk 16:19-31:
The context: The main theme of today’s
Gospel is the warning that the selfish and extravagant use of God’s
blessings, including personal wealth, without sharing them with the
poor and the needy, is a serious sin deserving eternal punishment.
The rich man’s punishment was not for having riches, but
for neglecting the Scriptures and what they taught.
Objectives: Jesus told this parable to
condemn the Pharisees for their avarice (love of and greed for money),
and for their lack of mercy and compassion for the poor. He also used the
parable to correct the Jewish misconception that material
prosperity in this life is God’s reward for moral uprightness, while poverty
and illness are God’s punishments for sin. The parable further reminds
us that we will be judged (private judgment), and rewarded or punished
immediately after our death. The parable finally offers an invitation to
each one of us to be conscious of the sufferings of those around us and to
share our blessings generously with the needy.
One-act play: The parable is presented as a
one-act play with two scenes. The opening scene presents the luxurious
life of the rich man in costly dress enjoying five-course meals every day, in
contrast to the miserable life of the poor, sick beggar living on the street by
the rich man’s front door, competing with stray dogs for the crumbs discarded
from the rich man’s dining table. As the curtain goes up on the second
scene, the situation is reversed. The beggar, Lazarus, is enjoying
Heavenly bliss as a reward for his fidelity to God in his poverty and suffering, while
the rich man has been thrown down into the excruciating suffering of Hell as
punishment for ignoring God in his prosperity and for not doing his duty of
showing mercy to the poor by sharing with the beggar at his door the mercies
and blessings God had given him.
Life messages: 1) We are all rich
enough to share our blessings with others. God has blessed each
one of us with wealth, or health, or special talents, or social powe, or
political influence, or a combination of many other blessings. The parable
invites us to share with others, in various ways, what we have been given —
instead of using everything exclusively for our own pleasure..
2) We need to remember that sharing is the criterion
of Last Judgment: Matthew (25:31ff), tells us that all six questions
Jesus will ask each of us when he comes in glory as our judge are based on how
we have/have not shared our blessings from him (food, drink, home, mercy
and compassion), with others. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
March 6 Friday: Mt 21:33-43, 45-46:
The context: Told by Jesus during
Passover week, the parable of the wicked tenants is actually an allegorical “parable
of judgment,” accusing the Pharisees of not producing the fruits of
repentance and renewal of life which God expected from them as leaders of His
Chosen people. “I expected my vineyard to yield good grapes. Why did it
yield sour ones instead?” The parable also explains the necessity
of our bearing fruit in the Christian life and the punishment
for sterility and wickedness. The meaning of the parable: As
an allegory, this parable has different meanings. Like the Jews, the second-
and third-generation Christians also understood God as the landlord. The
servants sent by the land-owner represented the prophets of the Old Testament.
They were to see that God’s chosen people produced fruits of justice, love, and
righteousness. But the people refused to listen to the prophets and produced
the bitter grapes of injustice, immorality, and idolatry. Further, they
persecuted and killed the prophets. As a final attempt, the landowner sent his
son, (Jesus) to collect the rent (fruits of righteousness) from the wicked
tenants (the Jews). But they crucified him and continued to lead lives of
disloyalty and disobedience. Hence, God’s vineyard was taken away from His Chosen
People and was given to a people (Gentile Christians and Jewish converts), who
were expected to produce the fruit of righteousness. The parable warns us that
if we refuse to reform our lives and become productive, we also could be
replaced as the old Israel was replaced by us, the “new”
Israel.
Life messages: 1) We need to be
good fruit-producers in the vineyard of the Church. Jesus has
given the Church everything necessary to make Christians fruit-bearing. Having
already received the Gift of Life in Baptism, we find we also have
the following: a) the Bible to know the will of God;
b) the priesthood to lead the people in God’s ways; c)
the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the remission of sins; d)
the Holy Eucharist as our spiritual food; e) the Sacrament
of Confirmation for a dynamic life of Faith; f) the Sacrament
of Matrimony for the sharing of love in families, the fundamental
unit of the Church; g) the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick to
heal us in spirit, and in body if God so wills, and to prepare us for bodily
death; and h), the Sacrament of Holy Orders by which the
priesthood of Jesus is continued on earth and will be continued until the end
of the world. We are expected make use of these gifts and to produce
fruits for God. 2) We need to be good
fruit-producers in the vineyard of our family. By our mutual sharing
of blessings, by our sacrificing of our time and talents for the welfare
of all the members, by our humbly and lovingly serving others in the family, by
our recognizing and encouraging each other, and by our honoring and gracefully
obeying our parents, and by teaching and caring for our children, we
become producers of “good fruit” or good vine-branches in our families.
Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
March 7 Saturday: St. Perpetua and St. Felicity,
Martyrs: Lk 15:1-3.11-32: The
context: Chapter 15 of Luke’s Gospel has been called “the
Gospel within the Gospel,” because it is the distilled essence of the Good
News about our Heavenly Father. The whole chapter is essentially one complete
parable, the “Parable of the Lost and Found,” with three illustrations:
the story of the lost sheep, the story of the lost coin and the story of the
lost son. These parables remind us that we have a God Who welcomes sinners and
forgives their sins when they return to Him with genuine contrition, resolved
to reform. In addition, He is always in search of His lost and straying
children.
The lost son: This parable speaks about the deep
effects of sin, the self-destruction of hatred, and the infinite mercy of God.
This is a story of love, of conflict, of deep heartbreak, and of ecstatic joy.
The scene opens on a well-to-do Jewish family. With the immaturity of a spoiled
brat, the younger son impudently extracts his share of the coming inheritance
from his gracious father. He sells out his share and then squanders the
money in a faraway city. Then, bankrupt and starving, the prodigal son
ends up feeding pigs, a task that was forbidden to a Jew (Lv 11:7; 14:8).
Finally, comng “to his senses” (v. 17), he decides to return
to his father, asking for forgiveness and begging to be given the status
of a hired servant. When he sees his son returning, however, the
father runs to him, embraces him, kisses him and gives him a new robe,
a ring and new shoes. The father also throws a great feast for him, to
celebrate his return, killing the “fatted calf’” reserved for the
Passover feast, so that all may rejoice with him at the wanderer’s
return.
Life messages: 1) We need to meet
the challenge for self-evaluation: If we have been in sin, God’s mercy
is seeking us, searching for our souls with a love that is wild beyond all
imagining. God is no less ready to receive and welcome us back than Jesus
was to welcome sinners in his time. 2) We should also ask God for the
courage to extend this forgiveness to others who have offended us. 3) Let
us confess our sins and regain peace and God’s friendship. The first
condition for experiencing the joy and relief of having our
sins forgiven is to see them as they are and give them up. We have to
be humble enough to recognize that we need God’s forgiveness to be whole.
Fr. Tony(https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
— and so the Lord God. Then He laid out the consequences of
their mistaken choices, pronouncing eight woes against them, and clearly
identifying their behavior as hypocritical because they were more concerned
about self-promotion than serving others. These home truths, spoken
publicly, were intended to humble them, in order to cause them to see
themselves as God saw them, and, horrified, to reform. USCCB video
reflections: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm
Three sins of the Scribes and Pharisees:
Jesus raises three objections to the Pharisees: (1) “They do not practice what
they teach” (v. 3). They lack integrity of life and fail to practice what they
preach, namely, justice, mercy, and charity. (2) They overburden the
ordinary people (v. 4). The scribes and the Pharisees, in their excessive zeal
for God’s laws, split the 613 laws of the Torah into thousands of rules
and regulations affecting every movement of the people, thus making God’s laws
a heavy burden. (3) “They do all their deeds to be seen by others” (v. 5).
Jesus accuses the scribes and Pharisees of annexing the glory that rightly
belongs to God. They express their love of honor in several ways, thereby
converting Judaism into a religion of ostentation: (a) “They make their
phylacteries broad and their fringes long” (v. 5). b) They “love
to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues”
(v 6). (c) They “love to be greeted with respect in the
marketplaces and to have people call them rabbi” (v 7).
Life messages: 1) We need servant-leaders
in a serving community: The Church is a servant-community in which those
who hunger, and thirst are to be satisfied; the ignorant are to be taught; the
homeless are to receive shelter; the sick are to be cared for; the distressed
are to be consoled; and the oppressed are to be set free. Hence,
leaders should have a spirit of humble service in thought, word, and
deed. 2) We need to live the Faith we profess. Our Faith tells us
that we are all brothers and sisters, children of the same Heavenly
Father. Hence, we should always pray for each other. Instead of
judging the poor, we should be serving them both directly and through our
efforts on behalf of economic justice. Instead of criticizing those of
other races, we should be serving them both directly and through our efforts on
behalf of racial justice. Instead of ignoring the homeless, we should be
serving them through efforts to supply them with adequate housing. 3) We
need to accept the responsibilities which go with our titles. Titles and polite
forms exist to remind each of us of our specific responsibilities in
society. Hence, let us use everything we are and have in a way that
brings glory to God, by serving His children. Fr. Tony(https://frtonyshomilies.com/) March
4 Wednesday: St. Casimir: https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-casimir (1458-1483)
: Mt 20:17-28: 20 Then the mother of the sons of
Zebedee came up to him, with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him
for something. 21 And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him,
“Command that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at
your left, in your kingdom.” 22 But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you
are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to
him, “We are able.” 23 He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at
my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom
it has been prepared by my Father.” 24 And when the ten heard it, they were
indignant at the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You
know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones
are tyrants over them. 26 It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be
great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you
must be your slave; 28 even as the Son of man came not to be served but
serve, and to give his life as a reasom for many.”
The context: We celebrate the feast of
St. James the apostle on July 25th. James was the son of Zebedee, the fisherman
and Salome, Mary’s sister (Mt 27:56). John the apostle was his brother. The
two, with Simon Peter, made up Jesus’ inner circle of disciples who were given
the privilege of witnessing the Transfiguration, the raising
to life of the daughter of Jairus, and Jesus’ agony in Gethsemane. Jesus called
James and John “sons of thunder,” probably because of their
volatile character and high ambitions. Later, James was known as James
the Greater to distinguish him from James the Less who
wrote the epistles and led the Jerusalem Church community. James the Greater
was probably the first apostle martyred by Herod in an attempt to please the
Jews (Acts 12:1-3)
The Gospel episode: The incident in today’s Gospel describes
how ambitious, far-sighted, and power-crazy James and his brother John were in
their youth. They sought the help of their mother to recommend them to Jesus in
their desire to be chosen as the two cabinet ministers closest to Jesus when he
established his Messianic kingdom after ousting the Romans. But they picked the
most inappropriate moment to make this request because Jesus had just predicted
his passion and death for a third time.
Jesus’ response: Jesus told them that it was the spirit of
service which would make his disciples great because he himself had come,
”not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Life message: 1: The leaders in Jesus’
Church must be the servants of all as Mary was (“Behold the handmaid of
the Lord”). That is why the Pope is called “the servant of the servants
of God.” The priesthood of the ordained priests is called the ministerial
priesthood because the duty of ordained priests is to give spiritual
services to the people of God who share the royal priesthood of Christ by their
Baptism (Rv 1:6; cf. 1 Pt 2:5,9). Church leaders must be ready to serve others
sacrificially with agape love in all humility. In other words,
leaders among Christians must be humble, loving, selfless and “the
servants of all.” Fr. Tony(https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/26
For additional reflections, click on: https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/;
March 5 Thursday: Lk 16:19-31: “There
was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted
sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus,
full of sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s
table; moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor an died and
was carried by the angels to Abraha’s bosom. The rich mana lso died and wa
buried; 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw
Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 … 31
The context: The main theme of today’s
Gospel is the warning that the selfish and extravagant use of God’s blessings,
including personal wealth, without sharing them with the poor and the needy, is
a serious sin deserving eternal punishment. The rich man’s punishment was
not for having riches, but for neglecting the Scriptures and what they taught.
Objectives: Jesus told this parable to condemn the Pharisees
for their avarice (love of and greed for money), and for their lack of mercy
and compassion for the poor. He also used the parable to correct the
Jewish misconception that material prosperity in this life is God’s reward for
moral uprightness, while poverty and illness are God’s punishments for
sin. The parable further reminds us that we will be judged (private
judgment), and rewarded or punished immediately after our death. The parable
finally offers an invitation to each one of us to be conscious of the
sufferings of those around us and to share our blessings generously with the
needy.
One-act play: The parable is presented as a one-act play
with two scenes. The opening scene presents the luxurious life of the
rich man in costly dress enjoying five-course meals every day, in contrast to
the miserable life of the poor, sick beggar living on the street by the rich
man’s front door, competing with stray dogs for the crumbs discarded from the
rich man’s dining table. As the curtain goes up on the second scene, the
situation is reversed. The beggar, Lazarus, is enjoying Heavenly bliss as
a reward for his fidelity to God in his poverty and suffering, while the rich
man has been thrown down into the excruciating suffering of Hell as punishment
for ignoring God in his prosperity and for not doing his duty of showing mercy
to the poor by sharing with the beggar at his door the mercies and blessings
God had given him.
Life messages: 1) We are all rich enough to
share our blessings with others. God has blessed each one of us with
wealth, or health, or special talents, or social power, or political influence,
or a combination of many other blessings. The parable invites us to share with
others, in various ways, what we have been given — instead of using everything
exclusively for our own pleasure.
2) We need to remember that sharing is the
criterion of Last Judgment: Matthew (25:31ff), tells us that all six questions
Jesus will ask each of us when he comes in glory as our judge are based on how
we have/have not shared our blessings from him (food, drink, home, mercy
and compassion), with others. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
March 6 Friday: Mt 21:33-43, 45-46:
The context: Told by Jesus during
Passover week, the parable of the wicked tenants is actually an allegorical “parable
of judgment,” accusing the Pharisees of not producing the fruits of
repentance and renewal of life which God expected from them as leaders of His
Chosen people. “I expected my vineyard to yield good grapes. Why did it
yield sour ones instead?” The parable also explains the necessity
of our bearing fruit in the Christian life and the punishment
for sterility and wickedness. The meaning of the parable: As an allegory,
this parable has different meanings. Like the Jews, the second- and
third-generation Christians also understood God as the landlord. The servants
sent by the land-owner represented the prophets of the Old Testament. They were
to see that God’s chosen people produced fruits of justice, love, and
righteousness. But the people refused to listen to the prophets and produced
the bitter grapes of injustice, immorality, and idolatry. Further, they
persecuted and killed the prophets. As a final attempt, the landowner sent his
son, (Jesus) to collect the rent (fruits of righteousness) from the wicked
tenants (the Jews). But they crucified him and continued to lead lives of
disloyalty and disobedience. Hence, God’s vineyard was taken away from His
Chosen People and was given to a people (Gentile Christians and Jewish
converts), who were expected to produce the fruit of righteousness. The parable
warns us that if we refuse to reform our lives and become productive, we
also could be replaced as the old Israel was replaced by us, the
“new” Israel.
Life messages: 1) We need to be good
fruit-producers in the vineyard of the Church. Jesus has given the Church
everything necessary to make Christians fruit-bearing. Having already received
the Gift of Life in Baptism, we find we also have the following: a) the
Bible to know the will of God; b) the priesthood to lead the people in God’s
ways; c) the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the remission of sins; d) the Holy
Eucharist as our spiritual food; e) the Sacrament of Confirmation for a dynamic
life of Faith; f) the Sacrament of Matrimony for the sharing of love in
families, the fundamental unit of the Church; g) the Sacrament of Anointing of
the Sick to heal us in spirit, and in body if God so wills, and to prepare us
for bodily death; and h), the Sacrament of Holy Orders by which the priesthood
of Jesus is continued on earth and will be continued until the end of the
world. We are expected make use of these gifts and to produce fruits
for God. 2) We need to be good fruit-producers in the
vineyard of our family. By our mutual sharing of blessings, by our
sacrificing of our time and talents for the welfare of all the members, by
our humbly and lovingly serving others in the family, by our recognizing and
encouraging each other, and by our honoring and gracefully obeying our parents,
and by teaching and caring for our children, we become producers of “good
fruit” or good vine-branches in our families. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
March 7 Saturday: St. Perpetua and St. Felicity,
Martyrs:
Lk 15:1-3.11-32:
The context: Chapter 15 of Luke’s Gospel
has been called “the Gospel within the Gospel,” because it is the
distilled essence of the Good News about our Heavenly Father. The whole chapter
is essentially one complete parable, the “Parable of the Lost and Found,”
with three illustrations: the story of the lost sheep, the story of the lost
coin and the story of the lost son. These parables remind us that we have a God
Who welcomes sinners and forgives their sins when they return to Him with
genuine contrition, resolved to reform. In addition, He is always in search of
His lost and straying children.
The lost son: This parable speaks about the deep effects of
sin, the self-destruction of hatred, and the infinite mercy of God. This is a
story of love, of conflict, of deep heartbreak, and of ecstatic joy. The scene
opens on a well-to-do Jewish family. With the immaturity of a spoiled brat, the
younger son impudently extracts his share of the coming inheritance from his
gracious father. He sells out his share and then squanders the money in a
faraway city. Then, bankrupt and starving, the prodigal son ends
up feeding pigs, a task that was forbidden to a Jew (Lv 11:7; 14:8).
Finally, comng “to his senses” (v. 17), he decides to return
to his father, asking for forgiveness and begging to be given the status
of a hired servant. When he sees his son returning, however, the
father runs to him, embraces him, kisses him and gives him a new robe,
a ring and new shoes. The father also throws a great feast for him, to
celebrate his return, killing the “fatted calf’” reserved for the
Passover feast, so that all may rejoice with him at the wanderer’s
return.
Life messages: 1) We need to meet the
challenge for self-evaluation: If we have been in sin, God’s mercy is seeking
us, searching for our souls with a love that is wild beyond all
imagining. God is no less ready to receive and welcome us back than Jesus
was to welcome sinners in his time. 2) We should also ask God for the courage
to extend this forgiveness to others who have offended us. 3) Let us confess
our sins and regain peace and God’s friendship. The first condition for
experiencing the joy and relief of having our sins forgiven is
to see them as they are and give them up. We have to be humble enough to
recognize that we need God’s forgiveness to be whole.
Fr. Tony(https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
