A Message from Fr. Jay
Dear Friends,
We are blessed with the good news that the health of Pope Francis is improving. Thanks be to God! In his first Angelus message as the new Pope, Pope Francis said: ‘Never forget this: The Lord never tires of forgiving, but at times, we get tired of asking forgiveness’.
In the parable of The Prodigal Son, we witness the son, even before he confesses his wrong doings to the father and pleads for forgiveness, that his father expresses unconditional love to him. After he confesses, the father did not respond to him but simply tells the men in the house to bring dignity to his son and celebrate his return. That is the power of forgiveness. Forgiveness never happens with any conditions. God’s forgiveness is always unconditional, just as in the case of His love.
I came across a story by Ernest Hemingway. In it, he presented the story of a father and his teenage son who were estranged from one another. The son’s name was Paco. He had wronged his father. As a result, in his shame, he had run away from home. The father searched all over Spain for Paco, but still, he could not find the boy. Finally, in the city of Madrid, in a last desperate attempt to find his son, the father placed an ad in the daily newspaper. The ad read: “PACO, MEET ME AT THE HOTEL MONTANA. NOON TUESDAY. ALL IS FORGIVEN. – PAPA”. The father in Hemingway’s story prayed that the boy would see the ad; and then maybe, just maybe, he would come to the Hotel Montana. On Tuesday, at noon, the father arrived at the hotel. When he did, he could not believe his eyes. An entire squadron of police officers had been called out in an attempt to keep order among eight hundred young boys. It turned out that every single one of them were named Paco. And each boy had come to meet his respective father and find forgiveness in front of the Hotel Montana.
Eight hundred boys named Paco had read the ad in the newspaper and had hoped it was for them. Eight hundred Pacos had come to receive the forgiveness that they so desperately desired.
Lent is a season of ‘coming to our senses’. Our Father is all forgiving and merciful.
God Bless,
Fr. Jay Raju
1st Reading: Joshua 5:9a, 10-12
2nd Reading 2: 2 Corinthians 5: 17-21
Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32
