4th Sunday of Lent: Book of Joshua (5:9-12) II Cor (5:17-21) Luke(15:1-3, 11-32)
The readings for the 4th Sunday of Lent invites us to reflect deeply on God’s unfathomable mercy and the joy of reconciliation and returning home to God. The passage we are about to listen to is taken from the book of Joshua, the faithful lieutenant of Moses along the Israelites journey through the desert, and his successor at his death. Having led the Israelites across the Jordan into the promised land, Joshua urged his people to renew their covenant with Yahweh through the rite of circumcision, which had been neglected while in the desert. “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt” Joshua 5:9. This likely refers to the shame of slavery in Egypt or their failure to fully trust God, which resulted in the 40-years wilderness period. The name Gilgal (meaning ‘rolling’) symbolizes this renewal. The covenant with Yahweh was re-established, and Joshua invited the people to celebrate the feast of the Passover in their new land.
The Israelites observed Passover on the plains of Jericho, reaffirming their identity as God’s chosen people. This was the first Passover in Canaan, linking their liberation from Egypt with their new life in the promised land. They ate unleavened bread and roasted grain from the land, showing their transition from dependence on Manna to a settled agricultural life style. This marks the fulfillment of God’s promise of a land flowing with milk. From that day the Manna ceased to fall, since from then onwards God would feed them with the produce of the country now become theirs, the land Yahweh had promised to Abraham six hundred years before.
We are all pilgrims on our journey to heaven, our promised land. Sunday after Sunday Christ keeps on feeding us with the manna of the Eucharist, our Passover meal, but its celebration always entails the renewal of our baptismal covenant. Once in heaven, the Manna of the Eucharist will cease, and our eternal Passover will begin. Does the present state of our covenant with God guarantee a safe arrival home?
The Gospel of Luke has been called “the Gospel of Mercy” because Luke, more markedly than the other Gospel writers, stresses how merciful God is with those who, repenting of their sin, come back to Him. In chapter 15 of this Gospel Luke narrates three parables of Jesus, all three dealing with God’s mercy: the parable of the shepherd who lost a sheep (Luke 15:3-7) the parable of woman who lost a coin (Luke 15:8-10) the parable of the father who lost a son (Luke 15: 11-32). The last one is called “the queen of all the parables”, so touching in the narration given by Luke; more moving still must have been to hear Jesus narrating it, these parables respond to pharisees and scribes who criticized Jesus for welcoming sinners. Jesus teaches that God rejoices over the repentant sinner, contrasting divine grace with human self-righteousness. Tax collectors and sinners were social outcasts despised by religious leaders. Pharisees and scribes grumbled because they believed associating with sinners made one unclean.
Jesus responds with parables, showing that God actively seeks and welcomes sinners. The various steps through which the younger son went: first, the younger son’s request, asking for inheritance early was highly offensive equivalent to wishing his father dead. “Far country” and reckless living, represents a life apart from God, indulging in sin. Sin takes man away from God, it is not God who goes away but man from God. The young man squandered all his money, he had to eat and hired himself to one of the local inhabitants, the new master put him on his farm to feed the pigs. Feeding pigs: a Jewish man caring for pigs highlights his spiritual and social degradation. Jews were strictly forbidden to eat pork, but there was something still worse: to rear pigs. This was the lowest step that a Jew could reach. There was a curse that went: “cursed be the man who feeds pigs”. This bitter experience made the man reflect, he came to his senses, and he said, “I will go to my father and say, father I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Come to his senses: represents repentance acknowledging his sin and unworthiness. The father ‘running’: unusual for an elderly Jewish man; a symbol of God’s eagerness to forgive. The ‘kiss and robe’ signs of full restoration, not mere acceptance.
A discordant note in the parable, the behavior of the elder brother: he was angry, and refused to go in. The older son equals pharisees: he sees obedience as a duty, not as love for the father; ‘this son of yours’, he refuses to call him ‘my brother’, reflecting self-righteousness. The father’s response, ‘son you are always with me, and all that I have is yours’. The father loves both sons but highlights that grace, not merit, defines their relationship. So, this passage speaks to us that we have to embrace our mistakes. The younger son took his inheritance and squandered it, realizing too late the consequences of his actions. Growth begins with acknowledging our mistakes. Accepting responsibility is the first step toward transformation.