PRODIGAL SON LUKE
15 11-32
Intro: Here is a picture of the Merciful Mother! Below is the story of the return of her daughter Latrel. (picture credit to Christine Beck who listened to Katie and compiled Katie's story in book form).
Intro: Here is a picture of the Merciful Mother! Below is the story of the return of her daughter Latrel. (picture credit to Christine Beck who listened to Katie and compiled Katie's story in book form).
The Prodigal Son, The Merciful Father, The Angry Brother.
Such a powerful story recalls our wounds and our hopes, if
not personal ones, at least ones that we have seen in others with our own eyes.
Sometimes the story recalls hypocrisy,
too, our own or that of others. Such stories were part of parish life when I
served at the parish of the Church of the Gesu in North Philadelphia. Surely such stories are part of parish life
everywhere. But during my ministry I
got to know only this one parish, an African American congregation that had a
series of wonderful lay and Jesuit leaders over the one hundred and twenty
years before my pastorate. The lay
leaders were extraordinary men and women who exemplified mercy. A few of the elders among them had been
turned away when the parish was still all white. Their African American Roman Catholic
parish was not so far away and that’s where the Gesu ushers told them they belonged. But the walk to Gesu was far easier. They kept showing up and finally got some
welcoming encouragement. They integrated
the parish and never harbored any bitterness.
I will return to the parish to
tell its story of the prodigal daughter.
But first for his insight on the story of the prodigal, I consulted Jose Pagola’s book about Jesus subtitled
“An Historical Appreciation”. Pagola’s
comments about the story of the prodigal son include an element that was new to
me. That is, the relationship of the father
with his two sons takes place publicly within a community of broader blood and
communal ties. Pagola describes how the
community reacted to this son who dishonors the family by carrying out his
scheme. His demand that the father surrender his
share of the inheritance before the usual acceptable time certainly became
known and condemned in their community.
No son should be allowed to abandon his family and claim his inheritance
before the death of the father. And no
father should be so permissive. But
the father must have known something about this son of his. Years later when the son returns he is
waiting for him. The community hears within
hours of the father’s merciful welcome.
Indeed many of them attend the welcome home party organized by the
father. To this celebration the father
invites everyone in the community so all can take a role in restoring the
dignity of his son. One imagines that some of these guests reject
this role and are secretly thinking like the older son or the Pharisees
to whom Jesus addresses the story. How
can this father forget the dishonor that this young man brought on him and his
household?
At the Gesu parish I saw some of the elements of this story
repeated more than once. In one series
of events, the place of the merciful father was taken by Katie Robinson, mother
and grandmother known to all in the neighborhood. One of Katie’s daughters, Latrel, found
herself trapped in drug abuse. Latrel never
went far from home over her long period of active drug use. Over those years she bore children, all of
them troubled by the lack of a mother’s love.
We in the parish got well
acquainted with four of the children because Latrel gave over the care of
these four to their grandmother, Katie. Latrel would visit her mother and the children
in her mother’s care from time to time.
Katie, a master of tough love, (I heard her, when speaking of her
children paraphrase the Marine drill sergeant’s proclamation: “their souls
belong to God but their behinds belong to me”) would not allow her daughter Latrel to stay in the house even overnight but would always allow her a visit. Latrel could come in the backdoor anytime and enjoy a meal in the kitchen. Latrel, spotted on the street coming and
going, would always greet neighbors with a smile as if everything were alright.
The return of the prodigal daughter begins at a North Philly rehab
center. By this time the children are
teenagers. Latrel’s time of staying
clean extends into months and months.
She writes notes to her children expressing her sorrow at not being a
mother to them. Katie, Latrel’s
children and her brothers and sister are all able to greet her in person during
her time of rehab. There are tears and
hugs. All are hopeful even after
Latrel’s health deteriorates and she is admitted to the hospital. But the years of abuse have so damaged her
body that she grows weaker and dies.
To celebrate the funeral Katie, her grieving mother, leads
the whole family to the Church. Friends,
neighbors, parishioners, those whom Latrel greeted with a smile show up to
mourn her. This is more than a family
event; the whole neighborhood joins in prayers for Latrel and her family. Latrel’s sister gives the eulogy with
tears of joy. And her message is
clear. Amazed at God who saved her poor
sister surviving so long without a home, the sister praised and thanked God
with words like this. “All these many
years Latrel could have died alone and abandoned in the streets. But God took pity on her. Latrel in her trouble left us her family. But she died surrounded and loved by us. She was lost but she was found. Latrel came back to us and now lives in her
true home.” Family and friends,
neighbors and parishioners shared tears of joy in that congregation of
mourners. It was a funeral celebration
unlike any I have ever attended. At
this return of the prodigal no one took the place of that older brother. In that church there were no Pharisees.
Events like this at Gesu parish help us grasp the stories
that Jesus tells us about God’s mercy.
Yes, the broader world might think of Latrel and her life as a great
loss. And her life surely had that
element of talent wasted and love lost. Not everything could be restored. But we
community members in the Church that day praised God, the God who confirmed our
hope that Latrell
went home to meet the divine face with that same smile she showed when meeting us on our streets.
went home to meet the divine face with that same smile she showed when meeting us on our streets.
Merciful Mother, Prodigal Daughter.
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