IV SUNDAY OF LENT : RECONCILIATION AND COMMUNION
Jos 5: 9a.10-12;
Sal 33 (34): 2-3. 4-5. 6-7
2Co 5: 17-21;
Luke 15: 1-3. 11-32
- Good morning, dear brothers and sisters. Welcome to the fifth in our series of Lenten video conferences. Today, among the readings, we have perhaps one of the most beautiful passages in the Bible for me: the story of the prodigal son, or perhaps it would be better to say, the prodigal father. It’s a spiritual and moral treasure… And I’d like to ask you to do a little exercise: you can see the text here. I’m going to ask you to stop the video, read it carefully, calmly, and at then, answer this question: What is, in your opinion, the main theme of the parable? What does this story tell or teach us? Please do this exercise, stop the video, read the passage, think about it for a moment… then continue with the video… don’t leave me frozen here! I’ll see you in a moment. Here is the text.
- Well then? What is this parable about? Forgiveness, reconciliation, mercy? Certainly all of the above. The first three verses (Lk 15:1-3) explain why Jesus tells this story. Faced with recriminations, He explains that He acts like the Father in the parable. He acts this way towards sinners because His heavenly Father, like the Father in the parable, “welcomes sinners, and eats with them!”
- But the parable tells us much more. For a long time, I remember using the parable to explain what sin, and the sacrament of reconciliation are. And these two realities do appear in the parable. Indeed, if you have ever confessed and experienced the unconditional forgiveness and mercy of God the Father, you can feel what the son in the parable felt. The parable is certainly about RECONCILIATION, and it’s a clear invitation to LET US “BE RECONCILIATED TO GOD”, as St. Paul tells us in the second reading.
- But today, I’d like to look at the parable from another point of view: COMMUNION. The Jubilee is a banquet. Easter is a banquet. The Heaven we hope for is an eternal banquet. And in this parable, it all ends… yes, exactly, with a banquet, a feast. But the final story is complicated, isn’t it? The banquet doesn’t seem perfect, because the eldest son… sorry, I should say the eldest brother, doesn’t want to take part. And why? Because he won’t forgive his younger brother. In fact, he doesn’t recognize him as a brother any more… “your son”, he tells the Father. And the fact is, to take part in the banquet of the Eucharist, -that is, to receive communion-, and to take part in the banquet of Heaven too, you need to be RECONCILIED. Yes, and for some it can be a complicated thing.
- Reconciled with our neighbor and reconciled with our Father in Heaven. And that’s why Jesus, his Son and our Brother, came to reconcile us with our Father in Heaven. For this, brothers and sisters, we have the sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession of sins. We don’t have time in the video to examine it in depth, but I’ll add a few links here so we can go into more depth: [Vidéo: What is confession?]; [Guide, How to go to confession?] You may have noticed that during Lent, there are always one or two priests available for confession right before mass. If you wish, they will also help you to confess and ask for the grace of reconciliation at any moment. And on April 16, we’ll be celebrating a community celebration of reconciliation.
- Let’s not forget that, to live and receive the grace of the JUBILEE, it is necessary to confess our sins and receive Holy Communion. Only then is the feast can be complete! Are you reconciled with your brother? Do you have something against your brother? Are you reconciled with God? Do you have any sins, mortal sins, to confess? How long has it been since your last confession? And then, yes, RECONCILIED with your neighbor, RECONCILIED with God, RECONCILIED with yourself, you can come to the banquet of the Eucharist, sign of the banquet of Heaven, and receive COMMUNION… and then, it will be true: The gesture of “receiving” Jesus, of being in COMMUNION with Him, will be true. And that will undoubtedly be a grace, and a JOY.
- Because communion, true communion, is not just receiving a piece of bread, it’s receiving the body of Christ. And receiving Christ in the Eucharist implies communion with Him (with the Father) and communion with my brother… To reach this point, I must accept the path of reconciliation. Forgive my brother and ask him forgiveness! To confess my sins and live -like Jesus- the life of a son and the life of a brother!
- When the Eucharist is experienced in this way, not as a rite, not as a ritual, but as a genuine banquet, as a communion and a meeting… then we experience it with joy, as a feast, as a Jubilee.
- Dear brothers and sisters, Happy Jubilee! And Happy Sunday!
Sujets:
communion, eucharist, LENT, reconciliation