(Twenty-fourth Sunday of the Year (C): This homily was given on September 13, 1998 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I. by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read Luke 15: 1-32.)

"A catechetical instruction,
courtesy of the prodigal son and his father."

Today's homily will be slightly out of the ordinary. This morning I offer you a little catechetical instruction on sin, repentance, Confession and Communion--courtesy of the prodigal son and his father.

As we heard a few moments ago, this well-known story begins with a request. The prodigal son says to his dad, "Father give me the share of the estate that is coming to me." Here we are given our first insight concerning sin: sin always involves the misuse of something GOOD. (Most people don't think of sin in that way, but that's exactly what it is.) For example: sins of the tongue like gossip, slander, swearing and lying all involve the misuse of something that's GOOD; namely, the God-given gift of speech. Sins of the flesh are committed when people misuse the GOOD gift of sexuality which the Lord intends for marriage and for marriage only. Notice that in this story the younger son requested the share of the estate that was coming to him. That's a significant point: he wasn't making an improper request; he wasn't asking for something evil. He was requesting something GOOD which his father was planning to give him anyway. His sin came when he misused the good gift and squandered his inheritance on what Scripture calls "dissolute living." Now what I also find interesting in this regard is the fact that he does all this squandering in "a distant land." I don't think that was a coincidence. You see, when people commit sins that they don't intend to repent of, they desperately try to run away from their heavenly Father, just like this boy tried to run away from his dad. As he was leaving home this young man probably said to himself, "I'm gonna get as far away from my old man as I possibly can. I don't want to hear about him; I don't want to think about his rotten rules; I wanna get away and do my own thing." This, by the way, is one reason why people who are in the state of serious sin don't want to hear homilies on the subject. They enjoy homilies about love, and social justice, and good works--but not homilies on personal sin. Why? Because those remind them of their heavenly Father's rules--and, like the prodigal son, they would rather not think about such things.

But that's a very big mistake, because eventually all sin catches up with us, as this boy's sin eventually caught up with him. In the parable we're told that he spends all his money; then a famine breaks out, and he finds himself with nothing to eat. So he ends up dining with Porky Pig and friends. Regarding this particular scene in the story, Pope John Paul II has said: "He who was born in freedom . . . hired himself out as a servant." There we have another insight concerning sin: it eventually turns us into slaves. This is something that people with sinful addictions know a great deal about. For example, a recovering alcoholic will tell you that when he started to drink excessively he was acting in total freedom; but eventually it came to the point where he couldn't stop. He had become a slave to his sinful behavior.

Finally, praise God, the prodigal son wakes up and "comes to his senses," as Jesus tells us in the parable. He repents, but notice that his repentance is rather superficial. He had what the Church would call "imperfect contrition." Imperfect contrition is when we're sorry for our sins because we fear the consequences--especially hell. Perfect contrition is when we're sorry for the best possible reason: because we've offended our heavenly Father whom we love above all things. If the prodigal son had had perfect contrition he would have said, "How could I have hurt my dad so deeply? How could I have been so ungrateful! He loves me so much. He's given me everything. I will go back and tell him how sorry I am for failing to love him as I should." But that's not what he said. In effect, he said to himself, "Hey stupid, if you don't go back to your dad, you're gonna die! This Porky Pig cuisine just doesn't cut it." That's imperfect contrition. But notice that his father still forgives him! The Church teaches that our heavenly Father will do the same for us (he will forgive us of our serious sins)--if we go to Confession with at least imperfect contrition in our hearts. Now obviously it's better to have perfect contrition for our sins, but in the sacrament of Reconciliation it's only necessary that our contrition be imperfect. Praise God for his mercy!

And by the way--how do we know that this boy had committed what we would call serious, mortal sins? We know it because after he returns home his father twice declares, "This son of mine was DEAD, and has come back to life." Dead? His son wasn't physically dead. Correct--but he was SPIRITUALLY DEAD (which is precisely the condition of a person who has committed a mortal sin).

Perhaps there are some people in this church today who are afraid of the sacrament of Reconciliation; perhaps others here have gone to Confession in the past but not confessed everything they should have. To all of you I would say this: God is more anxious to forgive you than you are anxious to be forgiven. That message comes through very clearly in this parable. We're told that the father caught sight of his repentant son "while he was still a long way off." Obviously this man had been keeping a constant vigil ever since his son had left him. He had been on the lookout, hoping and praying that his son would finally come to his senses and return home. And notice that the welcome he gives his son is unrestrained! Scripture tells us that he ran out to meet the boy, embraced him, and treated him like royalty. Clearly, he couldn't wait to forgive his repentant child. This, of course, is how our heavenly Father responds to us when we have the good sense to bring ALL our serious sins to him in Confession.

And here's one final point that I think is significant: once he's forgiven, the prodigal son is able to share once again in the family meal. For us, that's symbolic of the Eucharist. This is why the Church teaches that if we have mortal sin on our soul, we may not receive Communion again until we go to Confession. The prodigal son could not share in the family banquet until he was reconciled with his dad, and neither can we until we're reconciled to our heavenly Father. And there's also a message here for those of us who (by the grace of God) are NOT in the state of mortal sin at the present time. The message is: appreciate the great privilege you have of receiving the Eucharist! In other words, don't be like the older son. He had the incredible privilege of sharing in the family meal with his father every single day, but he took it all for granted. He didn't appreciate the great gift that he had enjoyed daily while his brother was out ruining his life. And so his dad had to remind him, "You are with me always, and everything I have is yours." In other words, "Don't you realize the blessing that you've been given?!"