RETURN TO THE FATHER'S HEART
Faithfulness of God to God's people is expressed in God's boundless mercy. The first reading explains how it has always been so in history; and in the Gospel, Jesus presents this fact with a parable which pictures the Father's heart with an incredible clarity: a heart that is forgiving, welcoming, compassionate, merciful, kind, unconditionally loving and absolutely faithful. When recently I shared this with a group of youngsters, one of them asked - 'but why should God forgive me and why should God be so merciful?' The answer was so simple, 'because "God is Love" (1 Jn 4:8)'. It is not merely that God loves, but the fact is, God is Love! God is madly in love with us... and that immense love is greater than any of my sin, it is greater than any force that blocks me from getting closer to God. All that I need to do is to decide like that son, "I will rise and go to my Father!"; all that I need to do today, is decide to RETURN to the Father's mercy; avail of the bountiful gift of forgiveness at the sacrament of reconciliation and be drenched in the mercy that flows from the Father's heart.