He said the older son's heart was full of wanting to do all those bad things but he did not have the guts to do them. He said if such a man were to be appointed as parish priest to St Charles, Ogle Street, we should pray for him to go to Spanish Place instead and that made us all laugh during his sermon.
I now understand the meaning of Fr Alan's sermon about the older brother. The older brother is a highly moralistic person and, as Christians, we are not called to be moralistic but always to make excuses for others and to forgive others.
Fr Alan told us to look at Rembrandt's picture of the Prodigal Son and he said the father represented God the Father. If you were to look at the painting carefully, you would notice one of the hands is feminine and the other masculine - showing us the two natures of God.
In the Gospel reading from Luke, the father looking out for the lost son represents God the Father looking out for us when we have sinned and turned away from Him.
The younger son represents us, who have sinned against God the Father.
When the son came home, the father asked his servants to put a ring on the son's hand - and this showed that the father had allowed the son to have authority again.
Putting sandals on the son's feet is a symbol that his son is not a servant or a slave.
This Sunday's [24th Week of OT] readings are all about mercy - Fr Alan's favourite topic.
In the first reading, God relented after the people had apostasised. The second reading is about God's inexhaustible patience and how God has forgiven St Paul, who was a blasphemer who attacked the early Christians. The Gospel is about God looking for the lost sheep, the woman looking for the lost coin, and the father looking for his lost son.
Almighty God, thank you so much for your inexhaustible mercy which you have for us. Teach us to walk to you with the people whom you have put in front of us and always being forgiving towards the people around us, like the way you are always merciful towards us. And Heavenly Father, when we fall, give us the grace to stand up again and walk towards you, like the prodigal son. Amen.
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