Dear Preachers:

PRE-NOTE:

For this and next Sunday there are options for two sets of readings. If a parish has catechumens and people preparing for full communion at the Easter Vigil, the parish may choose to use the readings from the A Cycle. We have posted reflections from the A cycle for the Fourth Sunday of Lent on our webpage.

We want to welcome the latest members on our email list, the parishioners of St. Joseph Parish in Astoria, Queens and St. Ignatius Martyr Parish in Long Beach, New York – who showed up for our parish retreats despite the snow and ice!

In the Brooklyn neighborhood where I grew up, my parents forbade me to play pool at the local pool halls. This was before they were gentrified and were re-named "billiard parlors." My father made it quite clear to me, "You shouldn’t hang around with the boys in a pool hall, you’ll get a bad reputation. Remember, you’re known by the company you keep." Good advice for living, by a well-intentioned father.

Didn’t Joseph gave Jesus similar advice, "Watch out for the people with whom you surround yourself, you don’t want to get a bad reputation."? The Gospels don’t tell us if Joseph or Mary ever gave Jesus that advice. They are described as devout people who regularly went up to Jerusalem for the holy days (Luke 3: 41), so they would have trained their son well and probably advised him about the company he should keep. But if they did, when he became an adult, Jesus seems to have made his own decisions. That’s certainly clear in the opening line of today’s gospel, "Tax collectors and sinners were drawing near to listen to Jesus." It doesn’t go on to say that he pushed them away in order to preserve a good reputation among his own people, especially the religious leaders. "The scribes and Pharisees began to complain...."

They complained a lot during Jesus’ ministry, since this wasn’t the only time he associated with the rejected and disreputable. What made matters worse and really lowered his reputation in the eyes of the devout, was that Jesus even ate with sinners. Didn’t he have any respect for the sensitivities of his co-religionists? I wonder how many of the devout tried to take him aside and advise him to "clean up his act" and disassociate himself from the local disreputables?

Indeed, Jesus seems to have gone out of his way to associate with sinners. There certainly were plenty of the "righteous" who would have an opinion on that! Their objections are laced throughout the Gospels. Jesus often used parables in response to questions about his teachings, especially in response to his critics. As we see today, the religious authorities thought they knew more about God and God’s will than he did. Today his response to criticism takes the form of the parable of the Prodigal Son.

Recently, I was with a group of parishioners reflecting on this parable. There were about 30 people present and many of the parents took umbrage at this parable. They thought it was a terrible example of parenting and that the father was foolish to hand over his property to the sons. "If he had to," someone suggested, "he should’ve given it just to the responsible son. At least he was diligent and wouldn’t squander the inheritance on dissolute living." One woman thought the father should have consulted the boy’s mother, "She would have had more sense than that silly husband of hers!" They were right of course. There are better ways to raise children. The father certainly shouldn’t have handed over part of the family’s inheritance to an irresponsible child like the younger son.

But a parable isn’t a moral teaching and this parable wasn’t Jesus’ attempt to teach parents how to raise their children. Though it is about children and a parent–but a special kind of Parent.

We get a preview of today’s parable in Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Catch the exuberance in his message, "Whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come." Paul could just have easily repeated today’s parable for, in his own way, he is also saying that God is a prodigal Parent who makes what is made alien and weakened by sin into a new being. We were alienated from God and, like the younger son, chose to cut loose and go our own way. The results have been disastrous for ourselves and those around us. Just as God created us in God’s image and likeness at the beginning, so God now re-creates us into the new person, in the image and likeness of Christ.

Paul says we were reconciled with God, our relationship was restored, not through any work of ours, but through God’s initiative in Christ. It wasn’t just Jesus’ sacrificial death that accomplished our reconciliation, but Jesus’ sacrificial life as well. Throughout his life he poured himself out for us in love. This was God’s doing and, if we accept it in faith, we are reconciled to God.

Jesus was the concrete and visible expression of God’s compassion and forgiveness. The religious leaders were upset with him. He seemed to make reconciliation with God too easy. God was too accessible to people they considered undeserving. "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them," they grumbled. Their objections and resistance occasion Jesus’ parable; his way of saying that he acts the way he does because that’s how God acts. God, our extravagant lover! Our compassionate and welcoming Parent!

It’s Lent, we’re sorry for our sins. I guess we identify with the younger son’s journey away from his home, his decision to return and the extravagant welcome he received in his father’s loving arms. But, besides being repentant sinners, who else are we? We are churchgoers, trying to be faithful to God and God’s ways. In many ways we have succeeded doing just that. So, shouldn’t we also see ourselves in the son who stayed home, the diligent and observing one? The parable catches us up if we judge some people not deserving God’s mercy; or that they haven’t done enough to earn forgiveness. It’s as if God has only a limited amount of mercy to spread around and if someone, less deserving than we, gets it then there will be less for us. It doesn’t seem fair to us hardworking folk–which lines us up, not only with the resentful older son, but also with the grumbling Pharisees and scribes.

Most of us were raised by hard-working parents and they taught us to do the same, work hard. Their lessons have served us well as we faithfully try to fulfill our responsibilities. But parables aren’t about our work ethic; they are about God’s work ethic. Parables invite us into a whole other world, where God’s ways rule the day and our world’s calibrations are thrown out the window!

The father not only reaches out to the prodigal, but also to the loyal son. Though he physically stayed in the household, he was lost too. He didn’t realize what he had as a member of the household, instead, he says, he "served" for years. Not exactly the way a parent wants a child in the family to feel – like a servant. Did the older son accept his father’s outreach, "My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours."? We don’t know.

Paul reminds us that we are reconciled to God through Christ. While it takes only one to forgive, it takes two to be reconciled. The first son returned home and accepted his father’s forgiving embrace. The second son had to accept his father’s invitation and enter the feast, "But now we must celebrate and rejoice." Reconciliation is God’s gift to us. Our response is twofold: to accept it and become, in Paul’s description, "a new creation in Christ." Then, Paul reminds us, we must make another response: be "ambassadors for Christ." God has done God’s work of reconciliation on our behalf and now entrusts the message of reconciliation to us ambassadors.

An ambassador comes to a foreign nation as a representative of his/her native land and government and works to establish and keep good relations between the two. When misunderstandings arise the ambassador tries to clarify issues and promote reconciliation. It takes a lot of training and hard work to be a good ambassador.

We are ambassadors who have been "trained" by hearing and receiving the message of God’s love through Christ. Now we do our best, in whatever "foreign land" we find ourselves–work, social settings, school, or even our own family. As good ambassadors, in word and actions, we speak of God’s forgiveness and desire for reconciliation with all people. Before we set out once again on our task as ambassadors, we gather around this table for the nourishment God gives us, the body and blood of the faithful Son. He is the food of our "homeland," that re-creates in us the image and likeness of God which we will reflect to all we meet – we ambassadors of Christ.

The Lenten Stations of the Cross offer a rich opportunity to see Jesus, suffering today in our world.

Many of our brothers and sisters walk the way of the Cross continuing the suffering of Jesus in their lives.

We are all called to be the Simon of Cyrenes or Veronicas today, knowing that what we lovingly do for each other, we truly do for Him.

• 1st Station - Pilate Condemns Jesus to Death
  Pray for those on death row and work to end to death penalty.
• 2nd Station - Jesus Takes Up His cross
  Encourage and offer help to a family member, or friend who is suffering.
• 3rd Station - Jesus Falls the First Time
  Prepare a meal for someone who is ill or homeless.
• 4th Station - Jesus Meets His Mother
  Lend a listening ear to a family member or a friend in need.
• 5th Station - Simon Helps Jesus Carry His Cross
  Make a contribution of time or money to a parish ministry.
• 6th Station - Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus
  Volunteer your time at a food bank, soup kitchen, or serve a Wake Interfaith Hospitality Network or Moore Square meal.
• 7th Station - Jesus Falls a Second time
  Vote for legislation for a living wage. Offer kindness and respect to those who do minimum wage jobs.
• 8th Station - Jesus Talks with the Women
  Offer assistance to a single parent, or visit an elderly neighbor.
• 9th Station - Jesus Falls a Third Time
  Pray for families and victims of HIV/AIDS.
• 10th Station - Jesus Is Stripped of His Garments
  Wear clothing that has been produced by just labor practices, not by sweatshop labor.
• 11th Station - Jesus Is Nailed to the Cross
  Write to legislators in Congress to ban land mines and other weapons which target civilians.
• 12th Station - Jesus Dies on the Cross
  Pray for the victims of violence. Pray for those who do violence. Pray for those who support violence.
• 13th Station - Jesus Is Placed in the Arms of His Mother
  Turn off your television when violent shows come on.
• 14th Station - Jesus Is Laid in the Tomb
  Visit someone who is home-bound or in a nursing home.

(Submitted by Anne and Bill Werdel, from the parish bulletin of Sacred Heart Cathedral, Raleigh, N. C.)

Mini-reflections on the Sunday scripture readings designed for persons on the run. "Faith Book" is also brief enough to be posted in the Sunday parish bulletins people take home.

"Whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away;

behold, new things have come."

Reflection:

Paul says our relationship with God was restored, not through any work of ours, but through God’s initiative in Christ. It wasn’t just Jesus’ sacrificial death that accomplished our reconciliation, but his sacrificial life. Throughout his life he poured himself out for us in love. This was God’s doing and, if we accept it in faith, we are reconciled to God.

• As we reflect on our lives this Lent, what feels "old": a worn-out way of behaving?
• Have we noticed any signs of new life in those very areas?

Please write to:

• Wayne A. Laws #0234897 (On death row since 8/21/85)
• Edward E. Davis #0100579 (3/12/92)
• Kenneth B. Rouse #0353186 (3/25/92)

---Central Prison 1300 Western Blvd. Raleigh, N.C. 27606

1. Two new CDs Available:

"First Impressions Preaching Reflections: Liturgical Year C." Begins in Advent and contains three　reflections for almost all the Sundays and major feasts of the year. It also has book reviews and additional essays related to preaching.

"Liturgical Years A, B and C." Reflections on the three-year cycle, with Year C updated.

If you are a preacher, lead a Lectionary-based scripture group, or are a member of a liturgical team, these CDs will be helpful in your preparation process. Individual worshipers report they also use these reflections as they prepare for Sunday liturgy.

Where you will find "Preachers’ Exchange," which includes "First Impressions" and "Homilias Dominicales," as well as articles, book reviews, daily homilies and other material pertinent to preaching.

4."First Impressions" is a service to preachers and those wishing to prepare for Sunday worship. It is sponsored by the Dominican Friars of Raleigh, N.C. If you would like "First Impressions" sent weekly to a friend, send a note to fr. John Boll, OP at the above email address.

If you would like to support this ministry, please send tax deductible contributions to Jude Siciliano, O.P., whose address is listed below.

Thank you and blessings on your preaching,

Jude Siciliano, O.P., Promoter of Preaching, Southern Dominican Province, USA

P.O. 12927 Raleigh, N.C. 27605 (919-833-1893, ex 224)