Pointers: 24th Sunday C

Pointers: Parable of the Prodigal Son

-the parable of the prodigal son is an unfinished story… we have to finish the story in our lives.

-the peculiarity of Jesus comes out: Jesus being a friend of sinners

-in human relations, we always want to hide our faults and sins because of fear of rejection..

-in the parable, we see that the more we accept our own sinfulness, the more He comes to us, the more he approaches us….

– -one’s confession of sin, like that of Peter, does not change God’s plan for us…

-the prodigal son asked for his inheritance. In the Hebrew context, the inheritance is asked only at the end of the father’s life. But the TENDERNESS of the Father surfaced…in spite of the implication that his son considered him as already dead.

7 Psychological Movements of the Prodigal Son

 1. -dissatisfaction with home

-the urge to travel

2. withdrawal from the home

-he thinks he can find happiness outside the home

3. discovery of the hopelessness of his situation

-wasted money, lost friend, no food to eat…CRISIS

4 acceptance of his hopelessness

-moments of crisis are also moments of discovery

-experience of failures can also be experiences can be converted into moments of grace

-moments of failures can be moments of conversion

5. remembering

-he remembers his home

-that the future can still be better

6. journey from foolishness to wisdom

7. welcome home and party

-from the time he left , the Father was already waiting for him to come back…it was the Father who first saw the son….he approaches the son not minding the words of the son asking for forgiveness. instead the Father accepted him back as a beloved son

-the prodigal son was not a good model for conversion: he returned back home because he was hungry…the motive was imperfect… and yet the tenderness of the Father was there.

-very often we return to God not because we have gotten rid of the vice but because of some other motives.

The Elder Son

-he was not a happy son

-he was not happy that the younger brother was forgiven

-anger can immobilize a person

-but the father comes with humility and the older brother rejected the Father by calling him “YOU”

-the older son now asks for payment

-no touch of humanity in the older son

-did the story end there?

*did the Father go back to the party alone

*was the older brother moved by the pleas of the father?

*did the elder son enter the house?

*what could have happened if there was a mother in the parable?

…..we have to finish the story.. in my life… in your life the story is still being told…..I AM TO END THE STORY…..

Conversion:     change of experience

                           change of mind

                             change of heart

                                 change of image

3 Parables of the Lost

(Lost and Found Section)

–          quite a long gospel reading

–          consisting of three parables

–          but the message is clear and simple

OUR GOD IS A GOD WHO SEARCHES AND UNCONDITIONALLY LOVES SINNERS. HE VALUES EVEN THE WORST SINNER.

1. A shepherd who leaves the 99 and searches for the lost one until he finds it. A practical shepherd will never leave the 99 in order for him to search for one lost sheep.
2. a lost coin, almost nothing…. Bat pinag-aksayahan ng panahon! Pagkat mahalaga…..
3. Tao ang NAGWALA AT NAWAWALA….
   1. –kapag –aso and nawawala hinahanap, tao pa kaya.
   2. Minsan, pag asawa ang nawawala di na hinahanap!