This chapter is structured around three important parables: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son, also known as the father and the two sons.

 

This chapter is structured around three important parables: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son, also known as the father and the two sons. Today, the liturgy presents only the last of these, perhaps the most beautiful of all. Luke seeks to show the goodness of the Father, the attitude of the eldest son, and the reality of those who turn away from God. On the other hand, he reveals a merciful God, capable of overcoming the mistakes of his children and granting them a new life, a resurrected life. This parable comes precisely after a confrontation with the teachers of the law. Jesus pays attention to the tax collectors and sinners, and for this very reason he is criticized.

2. It is worth noting that it is the tax collectors and sinners who approach Jesus to listen to him. Listening to the Word of God is the beginning of discipleship, it is the beginning of following him, it is the blossoming of a new hope and the beginning of a new life. Certainly, Jesus does not want to value life in sin, since sin belongs to the prince of this world, but to point out the openness of sinners to the Word of salvation. Stopping to listen to Jesus means finding something new in Him, much more than that: finding in Him the true meaning, the absolute reason for life, the light to see God and human dignity itself. In fact, by listening to Jesus Christ, man discovers God, himself and his vocation.

3. On the other hand, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were there not to listen to Jesus, to learn something new, to be His disciples, but to criticize Him, to observe Him. This is the attitude of those who think they are ready, who already understand everything; the attitude of the proud who the only thing they know is the pampering of their own and others’ personal pride. The attitude of such representatives of God’s people shows how far they are from the Lord’s promises, how they have strayed from the meaning of the Law itself, how blind they have become before the Father’s Messiah. They are closed in on themselves, overwhelmed by personal burdens, but far from their misery, from the very reality of God and from the good they should do for others. They are righteous in their own eyes, they are holy to themselves, but not to God. They do not consider themselves sinners and, for this very reason, they cannot see the One who brings salvation. This is the case of the eldest son, who, even though he was with his father, in fidelity to the Law, was unable to turn to him as a father, because for the eldest son, the comfort and security of the house, the comfort and convenience in the name of the father, were enough, who, in practice, according to the mentality of that son, was only a kind of boss.

4. The heavens rejoice with the converted sinner, with whom he discovered the beauty of God’s grace in his life. God celebrates those who, right now, make the decision to be His alone, recognizing themselves as sinners, opening themselves completely to the goodness of the Lord, allowing themselves to be guided by the Spirit of God, and still allowing themselves to be found by God. This was the case of the prodigal son, who, even though he was not completely converted, wanted to have something to eat, to be satisfied with dignity, because what he was living, as a consequence of his mistakes, made him unworthy, dehumanized, lower than the pigs, since he could not even eat the swill offered to the pigs, unclean animals. When he left home, his understanding of his father was that of a tyrant, someone who thought of nothing else but himself; so, to be free of that father, to live his own life in freedom, was the ideal. After a series of misfortunes and misfortunes in his life, he found himself at rock bottom, in an infamous situation.

5. He decided to return home. This decision was not motivated by repentance. He did not understand that his actions had hurt his father, hurting the one who loved him the most; in fact, he only changed the way he thought about his father, who was previously considered a tyrant and now a boss, in the same way that his eldest son understood him. He had not yet discovered his father, but only the desire to eat. By not understanding his father, he also did not understand what it means to be a son. Filiation occurs in the deep intimacy of one person turned towards the other. It is clear that he only wants to be treated as one of the employees, as long as he can continue living. Being a son does not come to mind, because he did not recognize the harm caused to the paternity-filing relationship in his heart. Everything he planned for the encounter with his father was nothing more than a continuous search for himself, still keeping his distance from his father and considering him something contrary to his reality as a merciful father. In any case, here we have the beginning of his conversion process.

1 Ave Maria, cheia de graça, o Senhor é convosco, bendita sois vós entre as mulheres, e bendito é o fruto do vosso ventre, Jesus. Santa Maria, Mãe de Deus, rogai por nós, pecadores, agora e na hora da nossa morte. Amém.

2 Ave Maria
Ave Maria, cheia de graça, o Senhor é convosco, bendita sois vós entre as mulheres, e bendito é o fruto do vosso ventre, Jesus. Santa Maria, Mãe de Deus, rogai por nós, pecadores, agora e na hora da nossa morte. Amém.

3 Ave Maria
Ave Maria, cheia de graça, o Senhor é convosco, bendita sois vós entre as mulheres, e bendito é o fruto do vosso ventre, Jesus. Santa Maria, Mãe de Deus, rogai por nós, pecadores, agora e na hora da nossa morte. Amém.

4 Ave Maria
Ave Maria, cheia de graça, o Senhor é convosco, bendita sois vós entre as mulheres, e bendito é o fruto do vosso ventre, Jesus. Santa Maria, Mãe de Deus, rogai por nós, pecadores, agora e na hora da nossa morte. Amém.

5 Ave Maria
Ave Maria, cheia de graça, o Senhor é convosco, bendita sois vós entre as mulheres, e bendito é o fruto do vosso ventre, Jesus. Santa Maria, Mãe de Deus, rogai por nós, pecadores, agora e na hora da nossa morte. Amém.

6 Ave Maria
Ave Maria, cheia de graça, o Senhor é convosco, bendita sois vós entre as mulheres, e bendito é o fruto do vosso ventre, Jesus. Santa Maria, Mãe de Deus, rogai por nós, pecadores, agora e na hora da nossa morte. Amém.

7 Ave Maria
Ave Maria, cheia de graça, o Senhor é convosco, bendita sois vós entre as mulheres, e bendito é o fruto do vosso ventre, Jesus. Santa Maria, Mãe de Deus, rogai por nós, pecadores, agora e na hora da nossa morte. Amém.

8 Ave Maria
Ave Maria, cheia de graça, o Senhor é convosco, bendita sois vós entre as mulheres, e bendito é o fruto do vosso ventre, Jesus. Santa Maria, Mãe de Deus, rogai por nós, pecadores, agora e na hora da nossa morte. Amém.

9 Ave Maria
Ave Maria, cheia de graça, o Senhor é convosco, bendita sois vós entre as mulheres, e bendito é o fruto do vosso ventre, Jesus. Santa Maria, Mãe de Deus, rogai por nós, pecadores, agora e na hora da nossa morte. Amém.

10 Ave Maria
Ave Maria, cheia de graça, o Senhor é convosco, bendita sois vós entre as mulheres, e bendito é o fruto do vosso ventre, Jesus. Santa Maria, Mãe de Deus, rogai por nós, pecadores, agora e na hora da nossa morte. Amém.

Pai-Nosso que estais nos céus, santificado seja vosso nome, venha a nós o vosso reino, seja feita a vossa vontade assim na terra como no céu. O pão nosso de cada dia nos dai hoje, perdoai-nos as nossas ofensas assim como nós perdoamos a quem nos tem ofendido, e não nos deixeis cair em tentação, mas livrai-nos do mal. Amém.