Devotional for Sunday March 6, 2016 - Fourth Sunday of Lent

I came across this post a few days ago by an approved stigmatist from Venezuela, Catalina Rivas. There is a devotion called "You Shall Believe." They put out a weekly message from Jesus to the Stigmatist on the readings for the week.  This week in particular it struck me. "It is a new Mercy that I want to give freely to this new generation." I asked Jesus about this new Mercy and He said: "It is necessary because this generation like no other has been lied to by their parents, their peers, their teachers, their church and their government." That is pure truth, obvious to anyone who is paying attention.

I am so happy with the way Pope Francis is speaking Mercy yet keeping to the truth of our human need for obedience to Gods law. We are trying to raise families in a world filled with confusion, (the work of the devil). It is difficult for people with very strong faith to stay on course. Our Merciful Savior is as always well aware of the weakness in His beloved children. I am preparing another post on,  "The Gentleness of Jesus." ~Margaret of Souls for Jesus

Gospel  Lk 15:1-3, 11-32

Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”  So to them Jesus addressed this parable: “A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father, ‘Father give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’ So the father divided the property between them.  After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.  When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need.  So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine.  And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any.  Coming to his senses he thought, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger.  I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.  I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”’  So he got up and went back to his father. 

While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion.  He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.’  But his father ordered his servants, ‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.  Take the fattened calf and slaughter it.  Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.’  Then the celebration began.

 Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing.  He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean.  The servant said to him, ‘Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’  He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him.  He said to his father in reply, ‘Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends.  But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’  He said to him, ‘My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours.  But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church

1439    The process of conversion and repentance was described by Jesus in the parable of the prodigal son, the center of which is the merciful father:……… his (the sons) repentance and decision to declare himself guilty before his father; the journey back; the father’s generous welcome; the father’s joy—all these are characteristic of the process of conversion. The beautiful robe, the ring, and the festive banquet are symbols of that new life—pure, worthy, and joyful—of anyone who returns to God and to the bosom of his family, which is the Church. Only the heart of Christ who knows the depths of his Father’s love could reveal to us the abyss of his mercy in so simple and beautiful a way.

1465    When he celebrates the sacrament of Penance, the priest is fulfilling the ministry of the Good Shepherd who seeks the lost sheep, of the Good Samaritan who binds up wounds, of the Father who awaits the prodigal son and welcomes him on his return, and of the just and impartial judge whose judgment is both just and merciful. The priest is the sign and the instrument of God’s merciful love for the sinner.

From “Great Crusade of Love” Testimony of Catalina Rivas (CL-160:4-5)

4) I have said it before: I want to be presented to the modern world like Joseph, who opens to all men the Pharaoh's granaries and distributes the grain in abundance so that there will be no hungry people on earth. I would like to be presented like the prodigal son’s father who, aged by the pain of his son’s absence, keeps watch from the window with a small light of hope for the return of his beloved son. I live among all of you, in the air you breathe, the water you drink, and the bread you eat, with the grandiose work of creation that never

ceases. In this manner I am among you all, alive, real, with the perpetual sacrifice of the Cross and the Glory of the Resurrection in each Eucharist. 

5) I want the world to know that God is unchanging, that He never lessens His Love for men; I need for man to know that I never set limits to My forgiveness and that I do not ask the prodigal son how he has squandered My estate, nor do I ask for account of his wickedness. It is a new Mercy that I want to give freely to this new generation.