HOMECOMING
Joshua 5:9a, 10-12; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
On 18 March 2025, Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore returned to Earth after an extended nine-month mission aboard the ISS. Their planned eight-day mission was prolonged due to tech issues with the Boeing Starliner. They returned aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule, splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico. Their homecoming was celebrated globally.
Homecoming! This phrase sums up this Sunday’s readings.
In the first reading, Israel is on the threshold of the Promised Land. The old life—slavery in Egypt and their sojourn in the desert—is over; they are about to begin a new life in their homeland. This is signified by what they eat: not the manna they ate in the desert, but “the produce of the land… unleavened cakes and parched grain”. In their homecoming, they experience God’s mercy and love.
The gospel recounts the homecoming of the prodigal son. The old life of dissipation and of hard labour gives way to new life in his father’s home. His homecoming, too, is signified by what he eats: not the pods on which the swine fed, but a home-cooked family meal. The gifts and the feast signify the father’s happiness at having his son home. In his home-coming, the son experiences the father’s mercy and love. There is a homecoming also for the elder son! Though he has always been with his father, he has not lived at home. He, too, experiences the father’s mercy and love.
St Paul (second reading) speaks of the ultimate homecoming: our reconciliation with God through Christ.
The thrust of the parable of the prodigal son: God waits for us to return home and to forgive us; he is not interested in our list of sins and our prepared lines. This is what happens when we approach the sacrament of reconciliation.
That’s the lesson from Jesus’ interaction with sinners: “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them!” This is what happens at every Eucharist. He welcomes us, and not just eats with us but he gives us himself.
Will I, this Sunday and this Lent, “come home”; allow the Father to forgive me; and partake of the feast he has prepared for me? Is there anyone I need to welcome “home”?
