NOTE: For all of the Sunday’s of Lent I would like to suggest that we spend some time in prayer and reflection…like a mini-retreat. My hope is that it will help us dive deep into this season of grace and set a course for the week ahead…
I knew that this was going to be a hard week for him. Last week was a let down. Out of work, he really thought that the job was his. He could taste it. He came in second. I know how that feels. I’m sure you do too. Money is tight. Unemployment was not really helping. This week was going to be tough because he was doing something he thought he would never be doing. Delivering Pizzas. “Remember, there is no shame in paying your bills” I texted him. It was going to be a hard week for him, I knew.
Friday, I decided to check in. “Hey, how is it going?” His reply gave me incredible assurance. “Not bad, I just passed three years sober today.” My immediate reply: “That is awesome.” Despite his current circumstances (which are temporary!!) he set his eyes and focus on the most important thing. Despite everything, this was a moment to claim and to celebrate. He had claimed freedom three years ago…one day at a time. We are all held bound or at least ensnared by some type of addiction or attraction. It is our human condition.
When it comes to addiction and/or recovery, It seems we are all dealing with it. Either it has trapped us, or trapped someone we know or love. Addiction is overwhelming our society. I guess it is nothing new…but it is something so real and palpable that you can taste it in your mouth as you navigate this life. Addiction, sobriety, serenity, wholeness, wellness…this is our temporal search for the eternal answer of holiness and divine communion. This is our call. And we answer so many other things instead.
The Gospel for this Sunday of Lent is the Story of the Prodigal Son…or really the Merciful Father…as it is about the father and his two lost sons. This Gospel is so familiar to us that it can sometime be glossed over in our hearing it. Please take some time right now and read slowly the Gospel for this Sunday. LK 15:1-3, 11-32
This year I read this Gospel in light of addiction, recovery and family. It thought struck me about the younger son’s homecoming. Ok, So he finally comes home. Great. Let’s party! But, in his quest for independence (his addiction) how many times, after he knew that wasn’t the right path, did he try to make the way home? When he is finally embraced by His Father, on what attempt did he succeed in going all the way home? Third, fifth, Seventh???? It really doesn’t matter. All that matters is that he came to embrace his particular worth…his personal sobriety…and made his way home. And Oh how the father embraced him!
And what about the older brother? If the younger brother was repentant for what he had asked his father, it seems the older brother is angry and resentful (his addiction) for what he never asked. “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.” So that is his beef – what about me?! Hell, with him, he made his choice. But in reality, the older brother never really made a choice for the father beyond silent obedience. Where is the love? And Oh, how the father embraces him with his words and encouraging invitation: ‘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.” Although St. Luke leaves us with a cliffhanger, I believe that the older son went in and embraced his brother.
Are you dealing with your own addiction? Favorite sin? Grudge? Angry, stubborn, self-righteousness, rationalizing, justifying? ,Envy, prejudice, bias, pride, lust, selfishness, laziness, substances over someones, hobbies over homelife, work over family, wealth over treasure, status over dignity…it’s a long list … lots to think about…
The younger son said, “Father give me…” and he left only to come back. The older son never asked and stayed, never to really feel at home…SOOOOO….
Let us ask the Father today…
Father, give us insight into our addiction, our sin, our isolation.
Father, give us grace to come home to You and realize who we truly are.
Father, give us the love you have to embrace those You love.
Father, give us sobriety from everything that takes us from You. +AMEN
