Homily for the 4th Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday), March 30, 2025, Year C

Fr. Charles Irvin Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for Sunday’s readings ) There are three characters that in this parable Jesus is asking us to examine. Actually, Jesus is presenting them to us so that we might take a look at ourselves in them. How does each one of these characters mirror us, reflect back to us our attitudes and our condition relative to God? Parables invite us to enter into the actors and see ourselves in them. The first is the younger son. It’s important for us to pay attention to his fundamental condition in which we must see ourselves. The first thing to see is his radical departure from God our Father. When he asks for his inheritance, he isn’t just asking for a big sum of money. He is in effect saying to his father: “I’m treating you as if you’re dead. And I want to get now what I’m supposed to receive after you’re dead.” How many people do you know who live and act as if God is dead… as if God may as well be dead? Or how often have we had an “attitude” to...