Lenten Reflection Day 14 ~ Thursday Second Week of Lent:

Opening prayer:

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, and Confiteor (see Day 1).

Scripture Reading (Luke 15:17–20):

“And returning to himself, he said: How many hired servants in my father’s house abound with bread, and I here perish with hunger? I will arise, and will go to my father, and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee. I am not now worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And rising up, he came to his father. And when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and running to him, fell upon his neck, and kissed him.”

Reflection:

Today’s scripture reading presents one of the most beloved parables in all of Scripture—the Prodigal Son. These words pierce the soul with mercy and hope. The Church, in Her wisdom, presents this parable during Lent to draw us into the mystery of reconciliation. The son, who squandered his inheritance and debased himself by living with swine, returns to the father with a contrite heart. He doesn’t expect restoration, just survival. But what does the father do? He runs to meet him, embraces him, and celebrates his return with joy. This is the image Christ gives us of God the Father, eager to forgive, rejoicing more in our return than in our fall.

St. John Chrysostom remarked, “He did not simply come to his father, but ran to him with burning love.” And so too does God, with burning love, run toward us the moment we make the smallest step of repentance. The saints tell us that the first movement of grace in the soul, the faintest whisper of “I will arise”, is already the working of God’s love within us. This Lent, if you feel you have strayed far, do not delay. Begin to rise, and the Father will meet you.

St. Teresa of Avila, a Doctor of the Church known for her penetrating spiritual insight, once wrote: “However many years you may have strayed from the Lord, only one instant is needed to return and be welcomed by Him.” She understood deeply the mercy of God, having experienced in her own life a period of spiritual tepidity before her great conversion and union with God. Her writings emphasize the interior castle of the soul where the King dwells and waits for us to return to Him in love and humility.

Like the prodigal son, we may not feel worthy. But God’s love is not based on our worthiness. He desires our hearts. The moment we say, “Father, I have sinned,” He rushes to embrace us. This parable also reminds us of the dignity we receive upon reconciliation. The father gives the son a robe, ring, and sandals, signs of restored sonship. In Confession, we are not merely pardoned criminals but restored children of the Kingdom.

Lent is our journey home. And as we make that journey through fasting, penance, prayer, our goal is not just to be better people, but to be embraced again by our Father, to be clothed anew with grace. Let the spirit of repentance today be filled not with fear, but with joyful longing to be received again into the Father’s arms. As St. Teresa also said: “God alone suffices.”

Closing Prayers:

V: O Lord, hear my prayer.

R: And let my cry come unto Thee.

V: Let us bless the Lord.

R: Thanks be to God.

V: May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

R: Amen.