(Luke 15:11-32)
Prayer: O Heavenly Father, let me never leave your house.
Imagination: (Picture Jesus with His disciples.)
Context:
This is a “Parable of the Father’s Love” and is drawn from real life. Many young unmarried sons (under twenty) asked for their inheritance to leave Palestine and better themselves. This son, however, loses his money and returns home. The father’s response is not reasonable, but mirrors the way God treats us.
Gospel text: (Read slowly, possibly aloud.)
A man had two sons. The younger said, “Father, give me my inheritance.” After gathering his things, he went to a distant country. However, he wasted his money by living recklessly. When he had lost everything, a famine broke out and the son got a job feeding pigs. He would like to have filled his belly with their food but no one gave him any.
Thoughts: (Read all. Ponder the ones that attract you.)
- This scene happens so frequently. A young person grows dissatisfied and wants out.
- This desire destroys the family support which he/she still need.
- The son rejects the Father’s wisdom and soon his own wisdom fails him miserably.
- The destructive power of sin destroys all that he has.
- The result is total disaster. A privileged son has become a hungry swine herder. (The lowest of occupations).
Affections: (When one touches your heart, use your own words.)
- O God, how often my desire for liberty has led me to frightful decisions.
- Too often, O Lord, I have trusted my own wisdom.
- O Jesus, my unbridled passions have led me into problems.
- You allowed my situation to deteriorate.
- You abandoned me to my own whims, so I would face reality.
- Leaving your house, O Lord and choosing my own path have led me to the depths of darkness, even to depravity.
Resolutions: (Possibly you might want to make your own.)
- I will recall all of my foolish decisions, taking full responsibility for what I have done.
- I will not blame God for my situation. I decided to leave his house.
Thought for the day: (To recall your meditation)
He got a job feeding the swine.
(To complete the parable, go to the next meditation.)