Your Homecoming

~~~ Fourth Sunday of Lent ~~~

~~~ Joshua 5:9A, 10-12 ~~~ Psalm 34 ~~~ 

~~~ 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 ~~~ Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 ~~~

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

The Lord hears our cries of distress...

in times of need he is near.

He delivers us from all our fears.

His praise shall ever be on my lips.

The goodness of the Lord is manifest

 before us in so many varied ways.

Today we once again hear the comforting story 

of the Prodigal son returning home to his father.

No matter how many times we listen to this story

 we can picture ourselves as the delinquent child.

Time after time we ask God for our share of heavenly bliss

only to take it and run away to seek our own passions.

Whoever is in Christ is a new creation:

the old things have passed away;

behold, new things have come.

If we are a new creation then the old ways

 of our sinfulness must fall to the ground.

If we truly want to be a new creation by the end of Holy Week

we must be intent on cleansing our heart...

we must seek the face of the Lord...

the face of mercy.

The father in today's Gospel

 looks past every poor decision made by his son.

He excuses the foolishness of his son...

He lets go of the hurt and heartache caused by his child.

How much more will God rejoice 

when one of us returns home.

He sees into the depths

 of your soul; there he finds

the goodness placed there when you

 were conceived.

That goodness is always there 

even when we, like the prodigal son,

run away and squander our inheritance.

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

There are no boundaries or expiration date on God's mercy.

We implore you on behalf of Christ,

be reconciled to God.

Return to God the Father.

See God running out to meet you.

Let the celebration begin

 with his blessings over you.

Close your eyes and picture God 

rejoicing in your homecoming.

~~~Peace~~~

Swallow Your Pride

~~~ Micah 7:14-15, 18-20 ~~~ Psalm 103 ~~~ Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 ~~~

The Lord is kind and merciful.

If we but take the first step back to God

 we will experience his mercy and kindness.

This message of God's mercy is delivered over and over again 

to us yet we continue to find it hard to believe

 especially when it pertains to us.

Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt

and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance;

Who does not persist in anger forever,

but delights rather in clemency...

God searches out the least of us

 inviting us to come experience 

what his mercy can do for our soul.

This magnificent mercy should 

make us love God all the more deeply,

but I fear it is too often overlooked.

Our thinking is that is makes for a good story,

but what does that have to do with me.

We have one such story in the gospel 

today of the Prodigal Son.

This story is probably one of the most 

well-known quoted from the Bible. 

We love this story it is filled with such idyllic scenes.

Do you believe that such a setting is possible?

Can you place yourself either in the place of the child or the father?

Sometimes we are the child...sometimes we must be the parent.

He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.

Notice here it is the father who rushes out

 to meet his son in the distance.

Before the father can see the son though

the son had to swallow his pride.

The son had to make the difficult decision 

to return to his father's home.

Lent is the acceptable time for us to do the same...

Swallow our pride and come back to our Father.

The father in today's gospel held a great celebration.

There was much rejoicing because the son admitted 

his selfishness which led to his poor decision.

This exactly what we are invited to do during this Lenten season,

The father does not ridicule the son.

The father does not belittle the son.

The father does not even try to make the son feel guilty.

The Lord is kind and merciful.

Pray for God to soften your heart 

so that you can overcome whatever is keeping 

you from returning back to the Lord.

There is no better time than NOW.

Coming home is filled with so many Blessings.

You will experience his overwhelming 

Peace.

More Than Clemency

~~~ Micah 7:14-15, 18-20 ~~~ Psalm 103 ~~~ Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 ~~~

The Lord is kind and merciful.

Nothing is too horrible for God to forgive.
No matter what we have done he remains true to his word.
He does not condemn, but rather we condemn ourselves
in the light of our offenses.

Now is the time of repentance.
Now is the time to return your heart to God.
Now is the time to put aside all feelings of guilt and shame.

The Lord is kind and merciful.

Truly there is no God like our God.
He leads us to clear waters...he shepherds us
 beyond our wants and needs.

He removes guilt, pardons sins...he continues to love us.

...does not persist in anger forever,
but delights rather in clemency...

How long have you held on to anger?
Who in your life do you need to forgive?

Clemency...

 a policy made famous by Julius Caesar,
 means the forgiveness of a crime or the cancellation
(in whole or in part) of the penalty associated with it.
It is a general concept that encompasses several related
procedures: pardoning, commutation, remission and reprieves.

(As published by Wikipedia.)

God removes the penalty we might deserve for our sins.
The clemency extended to us by God is so much greater
than that which the President extends to the turkey
every November or one given to a prisoner.

Many of our authority figures today have clemency powers
used at their discretion.
God does not carefully weigh the circumstances
 by which he shows clemency.

His clemency is always available to us...
because he is a kind and merciful God...
slow to anger...rich in kindness and compassion.

We can only begin to extend the same
 to others and only on certain occasions.

Sinners flocked to Jesus because they were able
to be accepted for who they were;
they were healed and forgiven.
They were not judged and tossed
 aside like the daily trash.

The gospel of the Prodigal Son is used time after time
 to remind you just how much God loves you.

Even if you squander all that he has given to you...
if you return to him there will be rejoicing and celebration.

The Lord is kind and merciful.

We are Blessed and comforted through these words today.
Test him, come back into his loving arms.
~~~Peace~~~

Forgiveness is the Key

~~~ Micah 7:14-15, 18-20 ~~~ Psalm 103 ~~~ Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 ~~~

‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you;

I no longer deserve to be called your son.’

We deserve things based mostly on our actions.

I am not sure that as a parent I could believe

 that my child would not deserve to be called my child.

The parable of the prodigal son is often heard because 

we need to see the picture of unconditional love.

We need to hear the words of the father.

We need to see the remorse of the son as he returns.

We need to hear the older son's words of resentment.

Parental love, sibling rivalry, and family connection

 is no different today than it was then.

Sometimes our kids are more like homing pigeons.

Coming home should be a safe place.

The son felt he no longer deserved to be called his father's son,

but the father felt his son deserved more.

The father felt his son deserved to be welcomed and forgiven.

This is what the older son could not grasp.

He could not understand that the celebration 

was nothing compared to the forgiveness.

Thank goodness God does not grant us forgiveness 

based on whether or not we deserve it.

If that were the case would any of us ever be forgiven?

On the flip side we should never feel that we deserve to be forgiven.

This is the challenge facing most of us...

Do we forgive when the other person does not deserve 

to be forgiven?

This is what God calls us to do.

This takes courage and determination.

As this second week of Lent comes to a close;

who in your life still needs to be forgiven?

I invite you to carefully consider that person whom you feel 

does not deserve your forgiveness.

Even if you do not see that person make 

the decision to forgive them today.

The father of the prodigal son forgave his son 

way before the son comes crawling home.

This is evident because of the 

swiftness with which he orders the celebration.

This is evident because the father rushes out to meet his son.

He does not wait for his son to reach the front door.

God is not waiting for you to come to him he is 

already coming out to meet you.

Forgiveness is not about deserving to be forgiven...

at least not with God.

The prodigal son also had to learn how to forgive himself...

he had to accept his father's open arms.

God wants us to have a future full of hope and happiness.

If you also want that for yourself, 

forgiveness is the key.

We are so Blessed with a God who forgives

whether or not we deserve it.

Return to him.

Peace.

Return to Me, My Child

~~~ Micah 7: 14-15, 18-20 ~~~ Psalm 103 ~~~ Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32 ~~~

The Prodigal Son returns home and the good father is excited beyond reason....

Or is it beyond reason?

Sometimes I am amazed at what makes the news today.

You can often tell by the stories when it is a slow news day.

Jesus attracts, among others, tax collectors and sinners.

Why do you think this is worth noting?

Had we been among those listening to Jesus 

would it have been newsworthy?

The Lord is kind and merciful.

Or is this a way of letting know that we too 

would have been accepted by Jesus?

The gospel story was one we could all identify.

The image of a loving father embracing his wayward child

is one we can all appreciate.

Either because we have a healthy loving relationship with our own father

or because we long to have that kind of relationship.

Not all fathers are emotionally equipped to respond in this forgiving manner.

God, however, responds to all of us with this generous outpouring of forgiveness.

The point of this example is that no matter what we do...

no matter how great our sin

if we return as the repentant child 

God will rush out with open arms to greet us.

If we return to the Father his forgiveness 

is like gold pieces shining

 in the ashes of our sinfulness. 

The darkness of our sins can be transformed 

into joyful brightness 

by our forgiving Father.

The Lord is kind and merciful.

Much rejoicing occurs over even just one 

child of God returning to his home.

The very best the Father has to offer 

is there for this wayward child.

Do you believe this to be true for you as well?

This is what the many beautiful Gospel stories are designed to accomplish...

they are to show us who truly God is.

We need these scenarios.

We need to see how humans can mimic for us

the qualities of God himself.

God has not left us to create our own scenes demonstrating 

his unconditional love and forgiveness.

He gives the stories from his own lips.

How can we not believe and trust that they are

meant for us today too?

The Gospel message is timeless.

What a treasure we have in the Word.

The Lord is kind and merciful.

You are forgiven.

Who is There Like You?

~~~ Micah7: 14-15, 18-20 ~~~ Psalm 103 ~~~ Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32 ~~~

"Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt

and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance;

Who does not persist in anger,

but delights rather in clemency,

And will again have compassion on us,

treading underfoot our guilt?

You will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins..."

The Prophet Micah was not privileged to know of the story of the incredibly generous father of the Prodigal Son. Which is today's gospel from Luke.

Who is there like you?

We could ask that question every time we enter into prayer. Our God is truly an awesome God. He loves us even more than the most beloved parent could ever begin to love their son or daughter.

The psalmist echoes the same message, 'The Lord is kind and merciful'. He pardons, he heals, he redeems, he crowns. What more could you ask for?

Who is there like you?

There will always be rejoicing at the repentance of one sinner; of one son returning to the father. The story of the Prodigal Son gives only a fraction of the magnitude of God the Father's love for one who turns from sin.
Reconciliation is a bridge for love and compassion to meet in the center.
Reconciliation is mending the brokenness...making it whole again.

"Reconciliation is to understand both sides; to go to one side and describe the suffering being endured by the other side, and then go to other side and describe the suffering being endured by the first side." Thich Nhat Hanh

"In failing to confess, Lord, I would only hide You from myself,
not myself from You."- Saint Augustine
Never underestimate the great capacity of our God to forgive sins and remove guilt.

Who is there like you?
We need no other words for prayers of praise and gratitude.