Come Home

The story of the prodigal son is a perfect story that depicts God’s infinite mercy and compassion. Very often we think that God is there to punish us for our sins but the story shows us that our Lord is waiting patiently for us to return. We have a loving and compassionate God who does not hold our faults against us. He is waiting for us to come home into his arms; He does not judge but forgives.

“God is looking into the distance for me, trying to find me, and longing to bring me home” Henry J.M. Nouwen.

The choices made by the second son in squandering his wealth left him broken. It shows that it is our own sins that break us because of the consequences of our wrong choices and actions. Many of us get lost in the pursuits of the world that leaves us feeling empty and lost.

“Addiction” might be the best word to explain the lostness that so deeply permeates society…….As long as we live within the world’s delusions, our addictions condemn us to futile quests in “the distant country,” leaving us to face an endless series of disillusionments while our sense of self remains unfulfilled. Henry J.M. Nouwen.

On the other hand, some of us are like the elder brother, although close to home, obedient to the commandments fail to understand that what God wants of us is to imitate him in compassion and mercy. Sometimes we act so self-righteously and we think we deserve more than others who may have fallen. Henry Nouwen explains that the elder son is equally lost and has great difficulty in coming home unlike the second son because his sins are deeply rooted within him.

“The more I reflect on the elder son in me, the more I realize how deeply rooted this form of lostness really is and how hard it is to return home from there. Returning home from a lustful escapade seems so much easier than returning home from a cold anger that has rooted itself in the deepest corners of my being………Isn’t it good to be obedient, dutiful, law-abiding, hardworking, and self-sacrificing? And still it seems that my resentments and complaints are mysteriously tied to such praiseworthy attitudes….. It seems that wherever my virtuous self is, there also is the resentful complainer.”

We do not know the ending; we do not know if the elder son ever repents but we do know for sure that we have a loving God who is waiting eagerly for us to rekindle the friendship with him. It does not matter how lost we may have been. He does not judge but forgives. So come home!