welcome home

Fr. Tom Konopka
Mar 7
2 min read

The prodigal son is part of each of us. We all have parts that have rebelled against God and run away so we can do our own things. Lent is the time to face up to those parts and bring them to the Father. The parable assures that when we turn to the Lord, he embraces us and the heavens rejoice. This happens over and over again in our lives because the mystery of conversion is a lifelong process. The life of a faithful Christian is a lifelong journey with God and a life of purification of our hearts. God calls us every day to draw closer to him and as we do, the fire of His love burns away the impurities of our hearts.

We are also the older brother. The sin of self-righteousness can be pervasive in the life of a religious person. Jesus warns us over and over again that we are to humble and servants of the rest. Like the angels rejoice at the return of the righteous, so must we rejoice at the return of anyone to the Lord. Only God judges a person; it is not up to us to say who can enter the Kingdom of God. Only God can judge the human heart and what is in it.

The father is our Father in heaven. God welcomes us home when we come to him with our hearts contrite and humbled. We all need to do this over and over again. We need to be like Him and welcome those who have been away with the same open arms. The church, by its nature, is like the Father and we are to welcome those who have strayed home. That same church also must welcome us home too when we stray.

Our Father in heaven longs for us to be with him. May we come before him with our hearts contrite and humble.

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