Dear Parishioner,

     “I’m not a robot.” This is a message I’m often asked to affirm and then prove when I want to access my emails.  No, we are not robots!   Robots can’t make choices – but we humans can. 

At the beginning of Lent, we were offered an awesome choice – between Life and Death- and exhorted to “Choose Life”.  Who would not “Choose Life” rather than Death? Yet it’s not always so easy to know the difference!

When the young man we know as the “Prodigal Son” chose to ask for his share of the inheritance, he probably thought he was choosing life.  It was only when he found himself starving and in misery that he finally chose the path of life and returned to his Father.

The older son too – faithful, loyal and hardworking as he seemed to be – chose death by remaining isolated in bitterness, resentment and jealousy, refusing to celebrate his brother’s return. 

Only the father – broken hearted when his son left – chose life: he allowed his son to make his choice of leaving but he welcomed him back with a loving embrace and a feast full of rejoicing.

In his wonderful book “The Return of the Prodigal” Henri Nouwen maintains that whether we identify with the older or younger son, we are all called to become like the father- what a challenge!  Jesus tells us that this is what our Father God is like, be we the younger or the older son.  We know what happened to the younger son but what of his older brother? We don’t know, but I like to think that he listened to his father and chose to join in the welcome and celebration.

Today we are all called to REJOICE as all together we celebrate NEW LIFE in CHRIST!  In Him we are reconciled with the Father and with one another! 

This wonderful parable is indeed the GOOD NEWS that we, the disciples of Jesus, are sent to share with everyone. 

Sister Marie McDonald msola