The Father's Mercy!

03-30-2025Pastor's LetterVery Rev. Richard C. Wilson, VF, Pastor

Dear Friends in Christ,

Today, in this Laetare Sunday (“Rejoice Sunday”), the fourth Sunday of Lent, we hear again that amazing parable of Luke's Gospel, where Jesus justifies his unprecedented practice of forgiving sins to regain men for God.

Many wonder if the expression “prodigal son,” which this parable is named after, is really understood by most people. Perhaps we should rename it as the parable of the “merciful father.”

The father of the parable —so moved by the return of that son ruined by sin— is indeed an icon of our Heavenly Father reflected in the face of Christ: “While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him” (Lk 15:20). Jesus makes us clearly feel that any man, even the worst sinner, is so very important to God that He does not want to lose him in any way; and that He, with ineffable joy, is always willing to grant us forgiveness, even to the point of not sparing his own Son's life.

This Sunday has an air of serene joy, and this is why it is referred to as the “Rejoice Sunday,” taken from the initial words of the antiphon at the beginning of today's Mass: “Rejoice O Jerusalem, celebrate all who love it.” God felt sorry for the man who was lost and stranded and has shown in Jesus Christ —dead and resurrected— his mercy towards him.

In his encyclical Dives in Misericordia, Pope Saint John Paul II said that, in a story bruised by sin, God's love has turned into mercy and compassion. Jesus' passion is the measure of that mercy. Thus, we may be able to understand that the greatest joy we can provide God with is, perhaps, to let Him forgive us by exposing our misery, our sins, to His mercy.

With Easter around the corner, we should gladly come to the sacrament of penance and reconciliation, to the source of divine mercy. May we give God a great joy, remain full of peace, and be more merciful to others. We must know with certainty; it is never too late to get up and go back to the Father that loves us!

All the best…in Christ,

Father Wilson