4th Sunday of Lent
Luke 5:1-3,11b-32
Sunday Reflections by Sister Terry Davis

The Gospel for this Sunday begins with an odd and unacceptable list of who is invited to the table and it ends with who is able to enter the home and share the meal. We are too accustomed to this Gospel for its shock value to startle us. But Jesus is yet again describing a kingdom that does not conform to common societal standards. The least and the lowest, the despised and the outcast are the ones invited. The sinners, the poor, the marginalized and the frail make up the kingdom.

This is difficult for us to accept when it means those we would reject are invited. But it is even more threatening when we know ourselves to be sinful and frail. Yet, we are given the chance to enter the kingdom despite, or perhaps because of, our very unworthiness.

The prodigal son is not worthy to come into the home and celebrate. His sin is far more outrageous than our familiarity has us recognize. He literally demanded his share of inheritance before his father died, as though that was the father’s main value. And then, of course, he squandered it, as his older brother so righteously notes.

I have often wondered why the father ran out to meet him on the road. Was it only because of sheer joy that this son he assumed was dead and lost to him was alive? Or, perhaps, was it because the father knew this might be as far as his son could come? Was the son’s nerve finally failing him as he came closer to the father he had so grievously hurt? Did his father know that his son may well have turned back and settled for being in a safe country rather than returning all the way to his home?

And then there is the unappealing older brother intent on counting his righteous acts and calculating the reward they merited. His self-righteousness and resentment prevented him from coming into the home as well. Again, the father goes out to meet him at the farthest point he could go. Stuck in the morass of indignation and self-absorption, he could not celebrate at a meal.

One level of meaning this Gospel may offer us is that God is the one who knows how far we can go, knows the limits of our ability to ask for forgiveness. And, again, this is a story about the God who is always seeking us when we are lost, when our nerve fails, when we are unable to come all the way home. It is an easy temptation to ask the “Why me?” question when we are lost and frightened and hurt. But the Gospel does not promise that we will not be lost. The promise is that we will be found.

The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to him but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." So to them he addressed this parable.

"What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, 'Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.

"Or what woman having ten coins and losing one would not light a lamp and sweep the house, searching carefully until she finds it? And when she does find it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says to them, 'Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.' In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Then he said, "A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of your estate that should come to me.' So the father divided the property between them. After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation. When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need. So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine. And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any. Coming to his senses he thought, 'How many of my father's hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger. I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers."' So he got up and went back to his father.

While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. His son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.' But his father ordered his servants, 'Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.' Then the celebration began.

Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean. The servant said to him, 'Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him. He said to his father in reply, 'Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.'

He said to him, 'My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.'"

            This is the Gospel of the Lord.

 

Sister Terry

Sr. Terry Davis was born in San Jose, California, the second of five children. She entered the Sisters of Notre Dame in Saratoga, in 1967.

She taught Art, English and Religion in Catholic high schools for five years and then began working at the Catholic Television Center in Menlo Park for the next five. Sr. Terry filled many roles in the small TV station that produced and aired programming for Catholic schools. Moving from graphic designer to producer to “on-air” talent was a constant challenge. During this time, she realized the need for religious organizations to have the services of church-appropriate graphic design. She set up a small graphic design service, IKON Graphics, for non-profit and religious groups for the next 15 years.

She went to the 1996 SND General Chapter and was elected to General Government for the next 6 years. Following this congregational leadership ministry, she has worked as the Director of Communications for the Diocese of Stockton, a small, rural diocese in central California with a rich and diverse population.