Let's go home

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This man, they said, welcomes sinners and eats with them.

Luke 15:2


There is just something about domesticated animals. I can recall how my grandmother kept a few goats in a small building behind our kitchen. Each morning, she would open the door to the stable and the goats would all run out, but in the evening as the sun began to set, those animals, without any guidance, returned to their building. It was a fascinating experience, one that I will later understand by a singular word - home.

At some point, we all go back home as naturally as we eat and breath. We don't sleep in the office or the church. In fact, if we listen to children in the parks, we can be certain to hear a sentence: mum, let's go home. This is precisely what the younger son in the parable realized: a longing for the home. But going back home is not one of the easiest things to do. We often hear that little voice which tells us “Go ahead, you are right”. When we set out to accomplish something, it is hard to walk away; we have a desire to win, to succeed. 

In the gospel passage, Jesus explains to us the demand of our Christian vocation. We have to be ready to return to the waiting arms of God who welcomes everyone with forgiveness. To do this, however, we need to set out through the paths of acknowledging and confessing our unworthiness. Reconciliation with God becomes the home where the weak are strengthened, the sorrowful are consoled; it is a place where sinners become saints. 

St Augustine is an example of the emptiness one will experience when s/he has not found God. He is also an example of what it looks like when we turn back. Through a meditation on Augustine's life, we can discover that the younger son in the gospel lives in us; we do not only spend our resources on things that have no value. We also have the potential for a homecoming. 


A reflection written by Anthony Zabbey O.S.A., Priest of St Augustine's Hammersmith, London


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