From the outset, it must be said that the fact that Jesus speaks in parables already denotes the mercy of God made man, who lowers himself to our condition, and speaks to us as we speak, it is explained so that we understand him. And it is understood.
The Parable of the Prodigal Son should be called much more often The Parable of the Father who loves and forgives. Because what it shows in an excellent way, as a scenic painting, is the Misericordia of the Father, always ready to forgive everything.
“Always” and “everything” can be considered synonymous. If everything is forgiven, it is always forgiven and if it is always forgiven, everything is forgiven.
The Parable also shows us the lack of mercy of children. From the little one when he “decides” that his father is dead (inheritances are only received from the dead). Of the elder because he does not want to forgive his brother, he rejects the invitation to be merciful like the Father.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan shows us how to make this mercy effective. It is not enough to have good intentions that stay there, nor is it enough to lament how bad everything is and feel sorry for those who are doing badly … those attitudes are not Christian.
Jesus did not formulate a “I was hungry and you felt sorry for me”, “I was thirsty and you turned off the television because you could not resist watching my suffering”, “I was a stranger and you told me that a logical prudence did not allow you to open the border and welcome me”…
Jesus, who is the Good Samaritan, looks with eyes of mercy and that look makes it effective: he approaches, comes down from the safety of his mount and gives himself to the needy. Isn’t that what he did for each of us by becoming a man and accepting the Cross for us?
The Parable of the Rich Man and the Poor Lazarus wants us to think about the consequences of our lack of mercy. If we have been warned that the Judgment will be on our love, goodness and mercy (Matthew 25), we should not be surprised that the Gospel shows enormous gravity in our grave omissions.
The Parable of the Lost Sheep, or perhaps the lost sheep, presents the love (and forgiveness) of the Good Shepherd who does not settle for any loss hidden in a cold favorable statistic. As Cardinal Van Thuan used to say, “God does not know about mathematics”, He loves and loves.
Quique Fernández
Miracle Sound Radio
