Parable of the Loving Mother

Gospel
Luke 15.1-3,11b-32

1All the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. 2And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’ 3So he told them this parable: 11‘There was a man who had two sons. 12The younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.” So he divided his property between them. 13A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and travelled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. 14When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. 16He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. 17But when he came to himself he said, “How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! 18I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.’” 20So 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. 21Then the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” 22But the father said to his slaves, “Quickly, bring out a robe - the best one - and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” And they began to celebrate.

25Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. 27He replied, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.” 28Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. 29But he answered his father, “Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. 30But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!” 31Then the father said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.”’

Sermon

“This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them”(Luke 15.2)

This could serve as an apt description as to what is going on here in this chapel this morning. Here Jesus welcomes us sinners to eat with him.

Today on our Lenten journey we reach mid-Lent, sometimes called Refreshment Sunday. The Common Worship liturgy we are using makes no concession to today being observed as ‘Mothering Sunday’. That is left to the Prayer Book and other non Eucharistic services.

The gospel centers on the Parable of the Prodigal Son or the Parable of the Loving Father in which the wayward son eventually comes to his senses and returns home where he knows a warmth and a welcome will await him despite ‘squandering his inheritance in riotous living’. St John Vianney, the Cure d’Ars, said: ‘Our home is heaven. On earth we are like travelers staying at a hotel. When you are away, you are always thinking of going home’.

There is no mention of the father’s wife, the mother of the two boys, in Jesus’ story. Where was she and what was her part in this family drama? Surely she was somewhere around and played a part. I am going to ask her to step forward this morning and have her say.

She surely loved all three men – her husband and the two boys ( I am thinking of Elaine Capey and her boys!). She would have been proud of her husband and his achievements in creating his estate and the wealth that went with it from which he was able to provide for the family with enough left over for the boys to inherit. She was happy and fulfilled to serve her men folk in any way she could. She didn’t mind being out of the limelight. She wasn’t jealous of her husband’s public persona. She didn’t regard herself as being in competition with the boys for his affection. She loved both boys equally even though they were so different in temperament and personality. She didn’t judge. She sincerely wanted each to reach his potential and find his own way to self fulfillment. She defended and represented them well when their father criticized them. She was the one who had carried them in her womb, given birth to them, and lovingly cared for them and nurtured them in every way from their earliest days. She believed in them as much as she loved them. Although their mistakes and less attractive personality traits caused her concern she willed them in the direction of what she knew to be their true selves. She was no less delighted than her husband when the younger boy returned home. She was pleased he was so generous and forgiving in his welcome home. She had her own special words and ways in her endeavours to help the older boy get over his resentment and sense of rejection. No doubt this quality of love for all three brought her a lot of heart ache but all the sorrow and suffering she suffered because of them faded away when she recalled all the joy being part of their lives brought to her. She was an admirable wife and a good mother.

The more I think about this woman – especially today – the more I believe her to be the hidden but essential character in the story. As well as leading me to a renewed thankfulness for my own mother, and for all good mothers, she prompts within me a deep devotion to Mary, the mother of our Lord, and also a sense of spiritual well being that I am embraced within the loving arms of Mother Church. It is Jesus who is at the heart of all true mothering and who welcomes me to eat with him at this holy table today – even though I am a sinner. Thanks be to God!