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How
to Enter the Feast
March
17-18, 2007
Fr.
George Smiga
Luke
15:1-3, 11-32
Today's
gospel is perhaps the greatest and most profound of all of
Jesus' parables, and we could reflect upon its significance
for hours. But we do not have hours, just a few minutes. And
so we need to be selective. I would suggest that we select
the character of the elder son, because in many ways this
character is the one that is closest to us. I would suggest
that we try to identify what is the sin of the elder son and
how does that sin manifest itself.
To
answer that question succinctly, the sin of the elder son
is ingratitude, and that sin manifests itself in jealousy
and in anger. The elder son was a lucky guy, a blessed individual.
He had been born into a wealthy family to a father who loved
him deeply, who entrusted to him all that he had. As the father
says, “My son, you are with me always, and all I have is yours.”
You are my #1 guy. You are the one I love the most. Not only
was the elder son so loved by his father, he also had his
health. The parable says that he had the strength to be out
working in the fields. He had friends, because he mentions
them as he complains to his father. In so many ways this elder
son was blessed time and again.
But
he was not thankful. If he had been thankful, he would have
been able to own how loved he was, how gifted he was, how
blessed he was. If he could have owned those things, he would
have been able to rejoice when his younger brother came home.
But because he was ungrateful, and because he could not own
the blessings that surrounded him, all he could do when his
brother returned was to react in jealousy and anger. All he
could do was compare himself to his younger brother. You see
the elder son resented the love and joy that was shown to
his younger brother because he could not claim the love and
joy that were his own possession.
My
brothers and sisters, how often are we like that! We are so
blessed. We have life, we have our health, we have family
and friends, we have good jobs. We live a standard of living
which is the envy of the world. We live in an age of technological
and medical miracles. We have access to travel in a way that
no generation before us could have even imagined. The list
goes on and on. Yet, by and large, we take all of these things
for granted. We are not grateful, at least not actively so.
Somehow we presume that all of this is our due. This attitude
is dangerous. If a person is not actively thankful, thankfulness
fades. And when thankfulness fades, it is replaced by jealousy
and anger.
When
we are out of touch with how truly blessed we are, we start
comparing ourselves to others: “Why can't I be like him? Why
can't I have what she has?” In time jealousy overcomes us
and robs us of joy.
When
we are out of touch with the blessings that surround us, we
can suddenly burst into rage: “How do those people get away
with that? Who does she think she is?” In time anger begins
to characterize our life and robs us of joy.
You
see there are only two kinds of people in the world: the person
who gets up every morning and says “thank you—thank you for
this day, thank you for my life, thank you for the blessings
that surround me,” and the person who wakes up every morning
and begins to complain about what he or she does not have.
Everyone one of us is moving towards one or the other of those
two people. None of us are stationary. Each day we move closer
to a person who is more thankful, more alive, more joyful,
or we move closer to a person who is less grateful, more jealous,
more angry.
So
if you suddenly find yourselves dealing with episodes of jealousy
or rage and you are not sure what is causing them, look at
your level of gratitude. How grateful are you for the gifts
which you possess? Jealousy and anger are not eliminated by
will power but by thankfulness.
God
has given us life and all the blessings of life. God wants
us to celebrate that life. So every day God is holding a celebration,
a banquet with music and dancing. Our only choice is whether
we will participate in that celebration or sit outside sulking
like the elder son. God's celebration of life will go on with
us or without us. But if we want to be joyful, if we want
to live a full life, there is only one way forward. We must
be thankful for the things which are ours, and then we can
enter the feast.
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