The fourth Sunday of Lent is sometimes referred to as “Laetare
Sunday,” from the Latin word meaning “rejoice.” This theme is echoed in all of
the scripture readings for this week, especially in the parable of the
forgiving father in the gospel of Luke.
Fourth Sunday in Lent
Forgiveness and Reconciliation
1Now all the tax collectors and
sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying,
"This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."
3So he told them this parable:
11b"There was a man who had two sons. 12The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the
share of the property that will belong to me.' So he divided his property
between them. 13A few
days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant
country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. 14When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place
throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that
country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. 16He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs
were eating; and no one gave him anything. 17But when he came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's
hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! 18I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him,
"Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one
of your hired hands."' 20So he
set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw
him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and
kissed him. 21Then the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven
and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' 22But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly, bring out a
robe-the best one-and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on
his feet. 23And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and
celebrate; 24for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost
and is found!' And they began to celebrate.
25"Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and
approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. 27He replied, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed
the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.' 28Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out
and began to plead with him. 29But he
answered his father, 'Listen! For all these years I have been working like a
slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never
given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. 30But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your
property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!' 31Then the father said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and
all that is mine is yours. 32But we
had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has
come to life; he was lost and has been found.'"
Forgiving Father *
WESLEY, Frank
India
Painted “Forgiving Father” in Japan
1954?
Oil
|
Notes:
|
Wesley was born in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh into a fifth
generation Christian family of Hindu and Muslim descent. He belongs to the
Lucknow school of painting. His paintings reflect this influence and that of
the Chughtai school of painting that flourished in India at the turn of the
century. Wesley made art based on both biblical and secular themes. He used
water colours, oil paintings, miniatures and wooden carvings.
Wesley's painting "Blue Madonna" was used for the first UNICEF
Christmas card, while five of his paintings were exhibited at the 1950 Holy
Year Exhibition in the Vatican. He is also known for designing the funeral
urn for Mahatma Gandhi's ashes.
|
|
Wesley, Frank, 1923-2002
|
https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=59207
The
painting can be found in a collection of images at the Center for South Asian Studies at University of Virginia, in their online gallery, and at the Australian EJournal of Theology.
“My
main work,” said Wesley, “is to paint the Bible in our own Indian way. It is to
do something for the church in the field of art.”
https://globalworship.tumblr.com/post/171506741865/the-forgiving-father-frank-wesley-painting
We are only lost when we can
be found.
Only in the light of goodness
and forgiveness
do we discover that we are
lost.
To forgive is to
set a prisoner free and discover
that the prisoner
was you.
At church last Sunday, Heidi was installed as an elder and
Nancy as a deacon.
Our Grief Group met at the Cowboy Lounge.
Harley went to the groomer. Sadly, he was too feisty
and all she could do was give him a bath. 😢
Lots of baby elk growing in those tummies!
Robin is back in Tokyo after her trip to India.
In addition to the conference,
she managed to get in some sight-seeing.
"Not
how I imagined seeing the Taj Mahal! Surrounded by military police yelling at
me and the tour guide on the steps. They confiscated Kei’s stuffed monkey which
I always traveled with and took photos of for Kei when he was a kid. How was I
to know it wasn’t allowed in? I got him back after proving I had no pictures
with him but my heart is still racing! Afterwards the guide snuck this
one…check my pocket!"
Forgiving does not erase the bitter past.
A healed memory is not a deleted memory.
Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget
creates a new way to remember.
We change the memory of our past
into a hope for our future.
March 30, 2025 Fourth Sunday in Lent - Year C
Previous OPQs may
be found at:
*Barbara Brown Taylor poignantly observes the ways that "both sons are lost to the
father, one to irresponsibility, and the other to self-righteousness. Taylor
describes the love of the father who, like any good parent, gives his sons
unconditional love instead of what they have coming to them. Taylor then
suggests that we who imagine ourselves in the older brother’s place will end up
on that doorstep, too, struggling with our own self-righteousness, and will
have to make the same difficult decision to join the party, or to stay out in
the cold with our principles (“The Prodigal Father,” in The Preaching Life).”
How do we equate? With the younger son or with the
elder son? Or with the father?
16From now on, therefore, we regard no
one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human
point of view, we know him no longer in that way. 17So if anyone is in Christ, there is
a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become
new! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through
Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19that is, in Christ God was
reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them,
and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. 20So we are ambassadors for Christ,
since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God. 21For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in
him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians
5:16-21
Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein
And
GRATITUDE!
LECTIONARY
Joshua 5:9-12
Psalm 32
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
“My son,
we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come back
to life again; he was lost and has been found.”
Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32
THE WORD:
The parable of the prodigal son, as
today’s Gospel is commonly known, is probably the most inaccurately titled
story in all of literature. Jesus’ tale tells us less about the boy’s sin
than about the abundant mercy of his father who forgives his son and joyfully
welcomes him home even before the son can bring himself to ask.
The father in today’s Gospel parable
is held up by Jesus as the model of the minister of reconciliation. Note
that when he catches sight of his son in the distance, the father runs to
greet and embrace him before the prodigal can even open his mouth to begin his
carefully rehearsed speech. The father welcomes his son joyfully and
completely, with no recriminations, no conditions, no rancor. A parent’s
love is the very reflection of God’s love for each one of us – love that always
welcome back, love that reconciles and heals, love that perseveres through
every hurt and heartache.
The father’s joy stands in sharp
contrast to the prodigal son’s brother, who cannot even bring himself to call
the prodigal his “brother” – in confronting his father, he angrily refers to
the brother as “this son of yours.” This parable of forgiveness and
reconciliation (found only in Luke’s Gospel) reveals a God of such great love
that he cannot bear the loss of a single child. Jesus holds up the father
as the model of the love and forgiveness of God the Father that we should seek
in all relationships.
Jesus calls us not to condemn or
gloat or belittle the prodigals among us but to enable their return, to keep
picking them up no matter how many times they fall, to open our arms and
welcome them back again and again and again.
The word “forgiveness” comes from
the Greek word meaning “to let go.” That is the heart of forgiveness:
letting go — letting go of our desperate grasp of the past so that we can turn
toward the future with hope. The older brother’s resentment and anger
makes it impossible for him to move on. Jesus calls us to embrace the
example of the prodigal’s father: to let go of our anger and embrace — for our
own peace — the possibilities for reconciliation with our “prodigal” sons and
daughters.
https://connectionsmediaworks.com/sundaygospel.html#march30
First Reading Joshua
5:9-12
9The
LORD said to Joshua, "Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of
Egypt." And so that place is called Gilgal to this day.
10While
the Israelites were camped in Gilgal they kept the passover in the evening on
the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho. 11On the day after the passover, on that very day, they ate the
produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. 12The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land,
and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of
Canaan that year.
Psalm 32
1Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,
whose
sin is covered.
2Happy are those to whom the LORD imputes no iniquity,
and in
whose spirit there is no deceit.
3While I
kept silence, my body wasted away
through
my groaning all day long.
4For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my
strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
5Then I
acknowledged my sin to you,
and I
did not hide my iniquity;
I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,"
and you
forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah
6Therefore
let all who are faithful
offer
prayer to you;
at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters
shall
not reach them.
7You are a hiding place for me;
you
preserve me from trouble;
you
surround me with glad cries of deliverance. Selah
8I will
instruct you and teach you the way you should go;
I will
counsel you with my eye upon you.
9Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
whose
temper must be curbed with bit and bridle,
else it
will not stay near you.
10Many
are the torments of the wicked,
but
steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the LORD.
11Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, O righteous,
and
shout for joy, all you upright in heart.
Second
Reading 2 Corinthians 5:16-21
16From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of
view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him
no longer in that way. 17So if
anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away;
see, everything has become new! 18All
this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us
the ministry of reconciliation; 19that
is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their
trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. 20So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal
through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in
him we might become the righteousness of God.
Gospel
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
1Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to
listen to him. 2And the
Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes
sinners and eats with them."
3So he
told them this parable:
11b"There was a man who had two sons. 12The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the
share of the property that will belong to me.' So he divided his property
between them. 13A few
days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant
country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. 14When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place
throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that
country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. 16He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs
were eating; and no one gave him anything. 17But when he came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's
hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! 18I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him,
"Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one
of your hired hands."' 20So he
set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw
him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and
kissed him. 21Then the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven
and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' 22But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly, bring out a
robe-the best one-and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on
his feet. 23And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and
celebrate; 24for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost
and is found!' And they began to celebrate.
25"Now
his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he
heard music and dancing. 26He
called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. 27He replied, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed
the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.' 28Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out
and began to plead with him. 29But he
answered his father, 'Listen! For all these years I have been working like a
slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never
given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. 30But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your
property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!' 31Then the father said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and
all that is mine is yours. 32But we
had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has
come to life; he was lost and has been found.'"
