“All I have is yours”. Lk. 15.31

“My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours. ” Lk 15.31. These words addressed by the father to the elder son are relevant, especially for Priests and Religious. The Father has entrusted to their care all he has – his own Son, his Word, his Sacraments, his own Body and Blood. Their mission is faithfully to guard and administer these to God’s people.  In these words addressed to the elder son, we can  see our vocation to be with him as well as our mission to guard and administer all he has given to us.

As priests and religious, we have more affinity to the elder son than the younger. We have not wandered far. We have not been too rash or irresponsible. We have not wasted the father’s property in loose living. We have not disobeyed the father like the younger son. Instead, we have been homebound, obedient, poor, chaste, dutiful, responsible, and working hard. We have been staying close to the altar, administering the sacraments, preparing people for baptism, visiting the sick, preaching the word, and helping the poor.

The father calls the elder son, “My son”. The father owns him.  The son has the features of the father. The father’s blood runs through his veins. The son has inherited the father’s temperament and attitude. He is the father’s son. He is his image. Despite the harsh and hurting words of the elder son, the father owns the son and calls him, “My son”. The father does not accuse nor condemn.  He looks at the intimate relationship that he has with his son, than find reasons for division and quarrel.

“You are always with me.” says the father.  Our vocation as priests and religious is to be with him. Christ called the twelve, “to be with him”(Mk.3.14).  Our first and primary vocation is to be with him.  Another word for ‘being with him’ is holiness. Sanctification of our life by listening to his Word, celebrating the Sacraments, and experiencing his forgiveness, is our first vocation. The father invites us to be ‘with’ him always. He is with us and not against us. He invites us to be with him ‘always’ – in the church, the presbytery, the workplace, the market, on Sundays and weekdays. His last words to us are “I am with you always”.

“All I have is yours.”. The father is an old man. His days on earth are numbered. He gives away everything property, his house, his wealth, his servants, his bank balance, and everything that belongs to the son. All that the Father has, he has given to us – his Son, his Church, his people, his Sacraments, his Word. Our vocation is to pass on what we have received. Vatican II documents tell us that the role of  priest is to be a teacher of the word and to be a sanctifier through the celebration of his Sacraments. The celebration of the sacraments finds its culmination in the celebration of the Eucharist. The best service a priest can render to the church is to make the Eucharist the center of one’s own life and the lives of the people whom they serve. 

The elder son complains because he did not get the fattened calf but the father is offering him his entire flock, his farm, his house, his property. Jesus asked the Samaritan woman for a few drops of water and in return, he promised her a perennial spring.  In return for the generosity  of the boy who gave five loaves and two fish, Jesus feeds five thousand with it and returns twelve baskets full. Jesus asks Peter for his boat to use as a pulpit and he returns the boat full of fish. At Cana in return for the faith of Mary,  he gives six jars full of fresh new wine, “filled to the brim”. For every step the prodigal son takes towards the father, the father takes a hundred steps towards the son. The son comes limping, and the father is running. We offer a drop and in return, he offers us an ocean. “How much more your father in heaven gives” ( Mt.7.10), Jesus tells his disciples. “Give, and it will be given to you, a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap” ( Lk.6.39). “ If you only knew.” ( Jn 4.10), Jesus tells the Samaritan women. If only we knew who the father of the prodigal son is, who our Heavenly Father is!

-        Fr TVGeorge sdb