Jesus didn't want the people of Galilee to think of God as king, Lord or judge. He experiences God as an unbelievably good father. In the parable of the «good father» he made them see how he imagined God.

God is like a father who doesn't think about his own legacy. He respects the decisions of his children. He's not offended when one of them gives him up for «dead» and asks for his part of the inheritance.

He sadly sees his son leave home, but he doesn't forget him. That son will always be able to return home without any fear. When one day he sees him coming, hungry and humiliated, the father «is moved deep within», loses control and runs to encounter his son.

He forgets his dignity as «lord» of the family, he embraces him and effusively kisses him like a mother. He interrupts the son's confession in order to save him from more humiliation. The son has already suffered enough. The father doesn't need explanations in order to welcome him as his son. He imposes no kind of punishment. He demands no ritual of purification. He seems to feel no kind of need whatsoever to show his forgiveness. It's not needed. He has never stopped loving him. He's always sought what's best for him.

He himself is concerned that his son feels good about himself once more. He gives him the ring of the house and the best clothes. He throws a party for the whole village. There will be a banquet, music, and dancing. The son must know the good feast of life next to his father, not the false diversion he sought among pagan prostitutes.

That's how Jesus felt about God and that's how he will repeat it even today to those who live far from God and begin to see themselves as «lost» in the midst of life. Any theology, preaching or catechetics that forgets this central parable of Jesus and gets in the way of experiencing God as a respectful and good Father, who welcomes lost sons and daughters, offering them free and unconditional forgiveness, doesn't come from Jesus or hand on his Good News about God.

José Antonio Pagola

Translator: Fr. Jay VonHandorf

Publicado en www.gruposdejesus.com