GOD THE LOVING PARENT OF THE SINNER AND THE UNWANTED

Names are very important – our own names and names of others.  We all know that a good name for our God is “Love.”  And another good name, with the same meaning, is “Mercy.”

So in today’s liturgy, for the Fourth Sunday of Lent, we see that God clearly manifests his nature. The nature of God is his loving mercy. In our first reading, from the Book of Joshua, we see the Israelites celebrating the loving mercy of God. For forty years they had wandered in the desert and God had provided for them.  Now having entered the Promised Land, they commit themselves to use their talents and resources to provide for their needs. They renewed their commitment to God and promised not to commit the capital sin of laziness. This Lenten season is a great opportunity for us Christians to re-dedicate ourselves to God.

We are all unworthy before God but Christ has reconciled us with God our loving and merciful parent.  That’s the reason why Saint Paul in the second reading reminds us of our renewed relationship with God. Through Christ we have been made worthy to be citizens of the kingdom of God.  Therefore in our response to God, we are asked to be ministers of reconciliation within our communities. St. Paul tells us that we are “ambassadors” for Christ to all broken communities, such as broken marriages.  In our small Christian communities, all of us must be ministers of reconciliation and not agents of confusion. “Kalidwe lauvundula madzi” (One who disturbs the waters). Thus the Chewa tell us not to be promoters of hatred and division among God’s people. For example, in the year 2003, the CCJP of Lusaka found that at only one local court 800 marriages had been dissolved in the previous year.  We can ask ourselves how many Catholic couples were among the 800 dissolved marriages?   Imagine the pain that families are going through because of these rampant divorces. As ambassadors of Christ, can we make a difference, sharing God’s loving mercy?

You and I have read the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke’s Gospel many, many times as individuals and as members of small Christian communities. We know about the playboy who commands his father to declare his assets and then orders his father to give him a share. For an African father, the behaviour of the boy is an insult and curse. But the father in the story remains calm and gives the boy what he demands.  He immediately leaves home and squanders his “Zamtrop” account on drink and women in a foreign country. Poor and hungry, he begs for work and one rich man employs him as a casual worker to look after pigs. He spent his time in a piggery – a particularly offensive place for a Jewish person!  The boys in Lusaka would simply say,  “Anaitaya!” (He truly has thrown away his opportunity in life!).

Fortunately, this playboy comes to his senses and realises his complete wretchedness. He accepts his brokenness and poverty and is profoundly sorry for his sinful deeds. He recognises that he is not an orphan and in humility he returns to his father. His father -- like a typical Zambian mother -- welcomes him back into the family. He kills a “fattened cow” that is called Muchende (Bull) and throws a joyful party.  The people join in the dance to celebrate the coming back of the son -- the one who has been lost and now has been found!  The father cordially invites his elder son to join the celebration. But this elder son refuses bitterly to join the celebration. He tells to his father how faithful and hard working he has been. And in disdain, he says he certainly can’t mix with his younger brother -- an HIV carrier, a plunderer, a good for nothing fellow!  Well, the father and others continue to celebrate the life of the lost but found son. They all sing together the Tonga song “Nichali bobu, Nichali chibotu.” (If it was like this everyday – it would be nice!).

Now, let us evaluate ourselves and our communities in relation to the elder son and to the rich man who employed the suffering playboy. Many times we act like the elder son.  We enjoy amplifying the sins of other people. We act as chronic gossipers when we consciously stigmatise and discriminate against AIDS patients in our families and communities. Sometimes we willingly participate in acts of character assassination. How many times do we hear of communities rejecting ex-prisoners or ex-prostitutes? Many times we refuse to blouse or to suite certain people in our lay apostolic movements because of their past way of life, even after they have fully repented and been reconciled by the church.  But do we in a Christian community have the right to turn our backs on repentant playboys or sinners who have decided to return to their Father by returning home to our church.  No!

Sometimes, we also act like the rich man who employed the young son as a piggery attendant. We take advantage of the poor, the vulnerable, the confused and we give them junk work at hardly any pay.  Are we the ones who sexually abuse the poor, the orphans and the women to satisfy our own desires?  But all human beings were created in the image and likeness of God and we certainly cannot take advantage of their vulnerabilities and use them as objects of profit or self-gratification. Let us evaluate our attitudes towards domestic workers, towards casual workers, toward child labour.  How just are the wages we give to them?  As employers, how many times have we taken advantage of the poor and the situations of poverty in order to become wealthier? Have we ever been involved in using children as child labour in unsafe, unhealthy conditions? Some employers or influential people ask for sexual favours from poor women in order to employ them – a truly shameful practice!  If we do any of these things, are we not like the rich man who abused the playboy by sending him to the piggery?

Often times, our attitude as Christians is very unlike what we actually are in real life.   We preach forgiveness and reconciliation but then we don’t put this into practice when we refuse to accept people who have repented and are seeking a new relationship with God and us within our community. When we deny others a chance to be part of us, are we not like the elder brother who refuses to accept his young brother?  When we take advantage of someone’s difficult situation, are we not like the rich man who exploits the poor playboy?   We may laugh at the elder brother and the rich man in the story – but we may just be laughing at ourselves!  In this Lenten season, let us check ourselves and evaluate where we belong, which personality in the story represents us.

SKETCH

We have a meeting of a small Christian community discussing some possible new members.  The chairperson speaks negatively about an ex-prisoner who wants to join the group, saying that this will lower the SCC’s reputation.  Such a view is echoed by two members who are gossiping about an ex-prostitute who wants to belong to the SCC bible-sharing group.  Then another member of the SCC asks if anyone knows the lesson from the story of the Prodigal Son.  Others fall silent and look very ashamed!

COMMUNITY PRAYERS

·         God, for any times that we have abused our positions for self-gratification, we ask for forgiveness. Let us pray to the Lord: Lord, hear our prayer.

·         God, for the many times that we have turned away any of your daughters or sons on account of their broken past, we humbly ask for your mercy. Let us pray to the Lord: Lord, hear our prayer.

[Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection, P.O. Box 37774, 10101 Lusaka, Zambia]