{"id":3730,"date":"2016-03-04T14:58:09","date_gmt":"2016-03-04T19:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scarboromissions.ca\/?p=3730"},"modified":"2016-03-11T12:46:56","modified_gmt":"2016-03-11T17:46:56","slug":"a-question-of-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scarboromissions.ca\/spiritual-reflections\/a-question-of-justice","title":{"rendered":"A question of justice"},"content":{"rendered":"
A reflection by Fr. Frank Hegel, SFM, on the Third Sunday of Lent: First reading: Joshua 5.9a, 10-12; Second reading: 2 Corinthians 5.17-21; Gospel: Luke 15.1-3, 11-32 The Gospel today is well known. The parable of the father and his two sons is the longest and perhaps the most complex of all the parables of Jesus. It only appears in Luke. Its theme is forgiveness and the mercy of God.<\/p>\n But there is another angle to forgiveness, and that is justice. Yes, God is merciful and forgives our sins whatever they are, but how does that relate to being held responsible for our actions? In an episode of The Simpsons<\/em>, Bart Simpson states that his plan is to live a life of debauchery and go for a deathbed conversion. It hardly seems fair to people who work hard their whole lives, live good moral lives, do everything right, and some sinful upstart gets the same deal in the end.<\/p>\n In the Gospel story, the younger son takes his inheritance early, leaves home, and squanders his money. The older brother stays home and helps his father on the land, waiting patiently for his recompense. So I can understand when the older son comes home to find rejoicing and a party at the return of his brother and feels that an injustice has been done. The older son has worked hard and has never gained a reward. It\u2019s as if the younger son is being rewarded for being bad. After all, people should be accountable for their actions. The younger son should not be rewarded for his debauchery.<\/p>\n
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It hardly seems fair to people who work hard their whole lives, live good moral lives, do everything right, and some sinful upstart gets the same deal in the end.<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n