Sunday 30 March 2025
4th Sunday of Lent
Joshua 5:9-12. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord – Ps 33(34):2-7. 2 Corinthians 5:17-21. Luke 15:1-3, 11-32.
Selfless and unconditional love
The parable of the Prodigal Son is often referred to as ‘The Loving Father’, highlighting the true hero of the story. In this parable, we witness a magnificent illustration of agape, a Greek term denoting selfless and unconditional love. For the Greeks, agape represented the highest form of love, characterised by a profound concern for the other person, elevating them out of misery and sin with dignity and without causing humiliation.
The second reading connects this concept to our own lives, emphasising that it is through our relationship with Christ that we are reconciled with God, who does not hold our faults against us. However, as members of the Body of Christ, we share the responsibility of ‘the work of handing on this reconciliation’. Throughout our lives, we are called on at times to emulate the Loving Father, offering selfless love, and at other times to accept the redeeming love as did the Prodigal Son.
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