This week’s text is a very tender passage. The story Jesus tells to convey the goodness of his Kingdom is one which can remind us of home and our own family reality. Go ever so gently with yourself with Jesus in the praying and pondering of his words. Notice what kind of compassion and support you need in the moment if grief arises.
This text also offers us a doorway into imagining the quality of Abba’s unconditional welcome. You might notice if one of the following prompts offers you a fresh way into the story.
Might we want to imagine a welcome like the tax collectors, sinners, Pharisees, and scribes received from Jesus as he drew them to himself to share such an intimate story?
Could we imagine the kind of unconditional welcome an impulsive, wayward, self-centered, and now contrite adult child received?
or the depth of pursuit and unconditional welcome of a dutiful, resentful, hungry for affirmation adult child?
Every person in this text was seen by God through the eyes of compassion and unbiased regard. There was enough room for all of them in this story in a story.
See if it is possible for you to stay curious with Jesus as you enter into the story. Simply notice what is there for you. See if you want to lean into that compassionate gaze of Christ as you notice yourself being seen and welcomed just as you are.
May Love, Grace, Patience, Gentleness, Kindness,and Faithfulness meet each of us again freshly in our prayer.
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 RSV
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable:
And he said, “There was a man who had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that falls to me.’ And he divided his living between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in loose living. And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to make merry.
“Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what this meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and sound.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you killed for him the fatted calf!’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”
For Reflection and Prayer:
Was there a word, a phrase, image, or feeling that ‘shimmered’ as you listened? Allow it to land in your heart. Stay with it. Savor it.
Reflect on what you heard. What effect does it have on you? What meaning does it hold for you? What does the Holy Spirit seem to be conveying to you? Talk it over in your prayer.
Perhaps you want to draw or color your prayer or journal the conversation.
As the time of prayer comes to a close, share some moments of quiet with Jesus, simply resting safely in his presence.
