The frequent focus of today’s Gospel reading — the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Lk. 15: 1-3, 11-32) — is precisely on the repentant son who comes back home after a life of self-indulgence and irresponsibility. But you and I who claim that we are beyond that, thanks be to God’s mercy, and want to move ahead in our present life, must focus instead on the person of the father in the parable and assume his person and his ways, whoever we are in our own family and community.
First, in our own family. I may be the adult son or daughter, the adult brother or sister, the father or mother in the family. At this point in my life, after all the teachings and blessings I have been receiving as a Christian disciple, it is time for me to assume the role of the ever-compassionate father, as H. Nouwen so simply but powerfully describes in his book, The Return of the Prodigal Son.
“As Father, the only authority he claims for himself is the authority of compassion. That authority comes from letting the sins of his children pierce his heart. There is no lust, greed, anger, resentment, jealousy, or vengeance in his lost children that has not caused immense grief to his heart. From the deep inner place where love embraces all human grief, the Father reaches out to his children. The touch of his hands, radiating inner light, seeks only to heal” (p. 95).
“Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate.” (Lk. 6:36). Nouwen describes this Fatherhood of Compassion in three ways: grief, forgiveness, and generosity. By grief, I allow the human sinfulness of my family members, including my own, to pierce my heart, and it is there in my heart that I am able to shed so many tears. Indeed, as I always, say, love hurts. From here, I am then led by the Father to forgive. And is there a limit to this, if I am to assume the Father’s place? “Then Peter approaching asked him, ‘Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I say to you, not seven times but seventy times seven times’” (Mt. 18: 21-22). This then leads me to the third way of the Father — boundless generosity. All that I am and have is for my loved ones, including my very life, if necessary. “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn. 15:13).
Children experience all this as they are growing up, provided their parents live by the Fatherhood of Compassion. The story is told of a devoted father who was ushered into the hospital room where his seven-year-old son was suffering from an incurable illness. The boy seemed to sense that he would not get well. He asked: “Papa, am I going to die?” “Why do you ask, son? Are you afraid to die?” Looking up with trusting eyes, the boy replied, “Not if God is like you, Papa!” What was this father like that the son was not afraid to face God if the latter was like his own father? Because he was the kind of father who was available, approachable, and accessible. He then said to the boy: “Son, God is not so much like me as me trying to be a little like Him. If you find me kind, understanding, and fair, He is a hundred times more so. If you consider me your closest friend, so can He be, if you allow Him.” The son then responded: “Then I am ready to die, Papa. Thank you so much for preparing me. I will never forget you. I will always love you, even where I will go. And I promise to love my Father in heaven, because you have shown me how to.”
Yes. The Fatherhood of Compassion. Each one of us is called to live by this, not only in our own family, but in our community, for our beloved country. This is an urgent call from our ever-compassionate God the Father, addressed especially to our rich families and business corporations. The most serious social injustice in our country, as I keep repeating over and over again, is the inequitable distribution of God’s resources. The minority rich are becoming richer, and the majority poor are becoming poorer. This has been recently confirmed by no less than a Presidential economic adviser, Gov. Joey Salceda. In spite of our very high gross domestic product (GDP) growth, “the windfall earnings have been enjoyed entirely by the country’s richest corporations and families.”
According to the Salceda report, the total earnings of the country’s top 1,000 corporations increased by 21 percent since 2001, while their return on equity or investments increased by 15 percent. “Their total earnings amounted to P3.1 trillion of which P2.1 trillion was pocketed as dividends or earnings of the stockholders. Only P1 trillion was reinvested.” On the other hand, the critical incidence of hunger nearly doubled from 11:4 percent in 2000 to 20.3 percent in 2009.
The ultimate culprit is our capitalistic economic system, based on the Western, secular principle of private ownership, as contrasted to the Christian principle of stewardship. Capitalism vs. Socialism. The latter is no less than what we mean by the Fatherhood of Compassion, nationwide. Let us all keep working toward this, till the end of our lives. Amen.