Dear Parishioners of Mary Immaculate and St. Rose,
Last weekend the Gospel was the Parable of the Prodigal Son and I am still thinking about it.  I have been thinking about many aspects of it but I am still a bit overwhelmed by the great love and mercy that the Father showed for his repentant son.
I just delight in the idea that the Father was watching for his son.  And when he sees him he can’t wait until the son will come to him.  He runs out  and embraces the lost son. The son who has wasted his inheritance, the son who lived an immoral life, the son who still stinks of the pigpen.  It doesn’t matter; he still loves him anyway! “Put a ring on his finger, bring him sandals and the finest robe, kill the fattened calf.  Let us celebrate for this son of mine was lost and now he is found!”
It is so hard to understand this type of mercy.  It is a total loving and acceptance of the sinner. There is no threat of punishment or hint of making amends.  Yet that will come: the inheritance is gone.  The son has failed; he betrayed the Father.  But he is still brought into the feast!
This parable helps us to have a little glimpse of the mercy of God and what it means to be forgiven.  The son acknowledges his guilt. “Father, I have sinned against you and against Heaven.  I no longer deserve to be called your son.”  How very true! But thanks be to God that the Father extends to him, not what he deserves, but mercy!  And in spite of all he has done, the Father brings him into the feast!
I pray that as we continue our Lenten pilgrimage that you may reflect on the tremendous mercy of God in your life.  What an amazing story this parable is.  It has the happiest ending ever!  Msgr. Cox

 The Return of the Prodigal Son Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1667)