In this Holy Year of Mercy, this Parable of Mercy presents us with an invitation to reflect on the overwhelming mercy of God.

I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.’ ” So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.

LUKE 15: 18 – 20

Reflecting on the image

In this parable, Jesus uses the image of a father’s love to illustrate God’s mercy. The human bond between a father and son is one that reaches deep into the heart. It’s a love that is often beyond words. In this image, the son that was ‘lost’ has begun to turn his life around. From his place of deepest darkness and shame, he returns to the embrace of his father’s love. Spend some time with this image and begin to relate it to your own life. Look at the father’s hands, as the son collapses into his arms, and see the unconditional warmth of his embrace. Recognise the patience and mercy in the figure of the father. When have you experienced such mercy?

Praying with the image

Pray the following from the official Prayer for the Year of Mercy:

Send your Spirit and consecrate every one of us with its anointing, so that the Jubilee of Mercy may be a year of grace from the Lord and your Church, with renewed enthusiasm, may bring good news to the poor, proclaim liberty to captives and the oppressed, and restore sight to the blind. —POPE FRANCIS

From The Parables of Mercy