A Loving and Merciful Father

"God never ceases to be the Father of his children." St. Anthony of Padua

In the previous post, I reflected on John 3:16, this post will focus on the parable of the Prodigal Son found in Luke.

I'm sure we've read or heard this parable many times, but have we really understood it? If we did, then we'd be struck in awe at the capacity of love the father (our Father) has for the once lost son (us), and it would transform us that such love exists.

Let's review the story. The youngest son of a rich man has the audacity to ask for his inheritance while his father is still alive. The father knows what's going to happen to it; he knows his son, but he gives it to him anyway. He doesn't force his son to stay, nor does he tell him how wrong he thinks his son is for making this choice. He let's him go.

Our Father in Heaven, to pause here, is this way, sometimes.There are times in our lives that we ask for what we want...we ask not what we are ready for or really need but what we think we deserve. As a loving Father, sometimes He will give us what we want knowing what will happen. However, because he doesn't want to force us to stay or be in relationship with him, he allows us to go and gives us what we ask for. He watches us take it and walk away from him. Our Father loves us enough to allow us space to learn what we need to.

In the case of the Prodigal Son, he learned that he needed his father, that he wasn't ready to make such a decision on his own, and that he loved his father. As he returns, the father runs to him-not to make him feel bad or tell him that he had made a dumb decision, but to embrace him...his own son was lost but has returned. He's come back! Returned to his father...faced his father. The father could've locked doors, put the son to work as a hired hand, or even have disown him, but he doesn't! He celebrates his return. Again, our Father is like this. He waits for us to figure things out and come to the conclusion that we do need him, we need his love, and without him we are not ready to make the best decisions. That we are selfish, and finally, need him to even get through each day.

Our Father in heaven loves us to the extent that reveals himself in his Son, exposes himself naked on the Cross, and gives us his heart...along with the freedom to choose: What we think we want, or what will bring us fulfillment. No matter which we choose, our Father is there alongside us always ready to embrace us.