FRIENDS and SERVANTS of the WORD
MARCH 11, 2023
SECOND SATURDAY OF LENT
WORD of the DAY
“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… Coming to his senses he said, I shall get up and go to my
father … 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.'” (Luke 15: 11-13a/18a/29-32)
“How shall I live this Word? 
We can say that today’s Gospel is the commentary on verse 6:36 seen on Monday. He re-proposes the figure of the Merciful Father and here we also find two children who, while living at home with their father, have not perceived, have not understood the greatness of their father/mother, have not tasted the love of his paternity/maternity, the sweetness of his presence. While living at home, they were unable to grasp what it meant to be children, so much so that both of them killed the image and likeness of their father in their hearts, even before acting as they did. The first asks for the inheritance and materially considers him dead. The other does not feel that he is a father and claims recognition, as if he were a servant. However, the younger son, moving away, perceives in himself the nostalgia of the Father, and returns to him. The eldest son will never be able to call him Father, just as he will never use the term brother, towards the one who returns home, feeling just and in need of vindication. Jesus proposes that we move from a servile religion to a filial, liberating relationship. The son is by gift all that the father is. How to recover and live this relationship? “Make us return to You, Lord and we will return”, with the ardent need for Him (younger son) or with the breaking of the armor of “our justice, that points the finger” (older son). Only his forgiveness can rebuild the lost sonship in the heart, because it inserts us into His life, makes us new. The condition? Let us be enveloped and regenerated by His love.
O Spirit of God, give us the awareness of our being Sons and Daughters in Jesus! Help our freedom to let ourselves be reached by the Father’s tenderness, to be able to break the barriers of our pride and open ourselves to the humble and true joy of being His children.
The Voice of Pope Francis General Audience 11 May 2016
Son, you are always with me and all that is mine is yours, but we had to celebrate and rejoice” (v.31). Thus says the Father to the eldest son. His logic is that of mercy! The younger son thought he deserved punishment for his sins; the older son expected a reward for his services. The two brothers don’t talk to each other; they live different stories, but they both reason according to a logic foreign to Jesus. If you do well, you receive a reward; if you do badly, you are punished; and this is not the logic of Jesus, it is not!”.
E-mail: srmterzo@gmail.com Website: www.sanbiagio.org info@sanbiagio.org Blog: livingscripture.wordpress.com Comment by Sr. Monica Gianoli, FMA
