Lenten reflection March 11-16

Pray

CRS — The story of the prodigal son (heard in Sunday’s Gospel reading) is so familiar.

Who doesn’t know the plot? A son asks for his inheritance, squanders it, nearly starves, moves back home, asks his father for forgiveness … and gets it. End of story.

But this rich narrative from the Gospel of Luke is worth a revisit – and it may be a good place to start your week of prayer.

The characters are rich and varied – there is the father, who is generous to the point of wastefulness (the meaning of prodigal); there is the younger brother who leaves and returns; there are the friends who benefit from the young man’s spending; there is the farmer who hires him at a wage that doesn’t even provide food for his belly; and there is the older brother who stayed home and harbored resentment toward his wayward sibling.

Each day this week, reflect on the parable of the Prodigal Son from the perspective of a different person in the story.

How would he or she recount the narrative? Which person in the story is most like you, or how are you like him or her? Who is God calling you to be? How has God been generous with you, and how have you stewarded God’s gifts?

Fast

One meaning of prodigal is wasteful. In your fast this week, look for the places in your life where you might waste resources or goods that have been put in your care. What is the state of your recycling bin or compost pile? How much food is thrown away at the end of a meal? Is the water left running in the sink or the lights left on throughout the house? Does money that could go into your Rice Bowl get spent on things you don’t need? This week take an inventory of how well you preserve and care for your resources. Choose a few areas to improve as part of a fast from wastefulness. Ask your family members to help.

Learn

Ilsa Dolores Gomez and the other women of her town of Las Lomas know the value of their hard-earned money. With the help of Catholic Relief Services, they have banded together to form a community savings group, which helps them save their money and invest it in opportunities to improve their economic self-sufficiency. But they have learned far more than the importance of savings. Their coordinated efforts to safeguard their money, and the various roles they have taken on in their organization, have provided a sense of dignity that has opened doors for them.