Father John P. Cush

IT HAS BEEN SAID that the great writer Charles Dickens has described the parable of the Prodigal Son as the perfect short story.

The great writer should know. Think about the characters created by Dickens, characters who have stood the test of time: Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Pip, Miss Haversham and the list goes on and on. (No offense, to this day, I’m still gun-shy about reading The Pickwick Papers. In high school, I read it, and to be honest, all I remember is how long it was!)

If we were to look at this parable from the Evangelist Luke, we would also encounter some rather developed characters even in such a short space. In just a few verses, we meet some fascinating people. Let’s examine some of these great characters.

Instant Fulfillment

We encounter the Prodigal Son, the younger brother who wants nothing more than what he thinks he needs at the moment. He wants instant fulfillment. He wants what he thinks he deserves. He learns that the grass is not always greener on the other side. He learns that there really is no place like home.

We meet the older brother who seems to suffer from the “good-boy syndrome.” He always does the right thing: responsible, loving, caring. And yet, time and time again, he doesn’t get the notice he should. His loving father doesn’t seem to notice him, and he grows in resentment toward his ne’er-do-well younger brother.

Then, of course, there is the loving father, who is the representative of God for us. The loving father is patient, kind and forgiving. Like God the Father, he gives his younger son the space he needs to find himself, even when he knows that the son, by his own free will, is making mistakes. Like God the Father, he is patient with the older brother who misunderstands the intentions of his father and is judgmental of his wayward brother.

It would seem that this is the end of the dramatis personae in our fascinating little drama. Yet, there is another character in the parable, one that often escapes our notice. I have to admit that he escaped my notice until he was pointed out to me by a fine teacher and homilist, Father Joseph Gibino, pastor of Holy Trinity parish, Whitestone.

The character is the servant who appears toward the end of the story and says to the older brother: “Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.”

Intention and Intonation

It would seem that this servant is rather innocuous, rather bland. He could stand in the function of exposition, simply fulfilling the function of telling the brother of his younger brother’s return. Yet, how those words of the servant are read, and what intonation is used in the delivery, makes all the difference.

Did the servant say that sentence in a happy mode, himself rejoicing over the return of the Prodigal Son? Perhaps the servant himself was upset. Maybe he never liked the younger son, and he himself resented the extravagant celebration that the loving father was throwing.

Stirring the Pot?

Or did he say those words just to rile up the other brother who feels angry, upset and left out? Did he just want to stir the pot, to cause trouble, to “drop the bomb” and then run away?

How often do we do precisely that? How often do we just stir the pot to cause trouble among people? Often we do it unintentionally, unaware of how our words can cause problems. More likely, however, is the probability that we’re bored and just want to see what might happen when we introduce this element into an already volatile relationship.

This Lent, may we realize that each of us is called to be good to one another. Each one of us is called to use our words to build up each other, not tear each other down. Our words and attitudes should always be conformed with Christian charity. Words have power. May we always use them properly to help build up the Body of Christ.

Readings for the Fourth Sunday of Lent

Joshua 5: 9a, 10-12

Psalm 34: 2-3, 4-5, 6-7

2 Corinthians 5: 17-21

Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32

Father John P. Cush, a priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn, is a doctoral student in dogmatic theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.