This homily is based on Luke 15:1-32.
Our Gospel reading today features what is arguably the best-known and best-loved of our Lord’s parables, The Parable of the Lost Son–more commonly known as the Prodigal Son.
We know the story: A wayward son prematurely asks his father for his share of the inheritance and spends it all in loose living. He predictably finds himself destitute and miserable, and just as predictably decides to go home in remorse. What is most unpredictable is that this good-for-nothing son is, much to his own surprise, greeted by his father’s embrace and is welcomed with a lavish homecoming party, complete with a roasted fattened calf.