“Home with God” by Father Mark S. Suslenko, Pastor, SS. Isidore and Maria Parish, Glastonbury, Connecticut
As we celebrated this past week, the very beautiful feast of Jesus' Ascension into heaven, I found myself reflecting upon the parable of the Prodigal Son. Now, as you sit here today, perhaps you're asking what could the parable of the Prodigal Son have to do with the Ascension of the Lord?
Remember in that very poignant story that we've heard many times over, and there is that pivotal point when that younger son goes to his father and he says, "Father, I want my share of the inheritance." I want my share of the inheritance. Henri Nouwen, the classical spiritual author, wrote a book, The Return of the Prodigal Son, and it's actually a reflection on Rembrandt's painting of the Prodigal Son. And in that reflection, he points to that moment when the younger son makes that request of his father. And what he says, what's really going on in that exchange, is this, that what the son is really saying without saying it is this: "Father, I can't wait for you to die." Father, I can't wait for you to die.
When we look at that in that context, it makes that request of the son even more offensive than it is at first glance. It really is a heartless rejection of the home in which that boy was born and nurtured and a true rupture and break with the traditions that upheld his request as being blatantly wrong. It was unheard of, then and even now, to make such a demand of one's father. That young man struggled with understanding the meaning of home, not in the physical sense, but in the spiritual one.
When Jesus ascended to his Father in heaven, Jesus simply went home. Jesus went home.
If we look at how Jesus taught and how he acted, he never lost touch with home. He knew inwardly where he came from and where he was going, and that allowed him to do the work that he had to do in between. You and I, in a deeply profound spiritual way, struggle with understanding our home. We struggle with staying home with God where we know we belong. It's almost as if we say to God, thank you, but no, thank you for the gift of life and for the promise of eternal life. But I'm gonna take that and go and do as I wish because I've got this. I can handle this. I know how to find happiness. I know where I need to go. It's not here, but I got it.
And so, without being a bad person, so to speak, we often find ourselves drifting away. Moving away from our center, from our focus, from where we know we really need and ought to be. We can find ourselves easily self-absorbed, even in things that may be legitimate at the time. We find ourselves misguided, confused. The enticements of the world wanna convince us of illusions about ourselves, illusions that promise some measure of contentment or happiness, and try one after the other; we fail to realize that none of that will ever satisfy this longing, this ache, this pining of our soul to find home. And so, in this seemingly endless search, we continue to look, and we continue to be disappointed.
Faith and good, healthy religion exist to keep us focused. To point to home, to remove some of the misguided notions, to break apart the illusions, to clear up the cobwebs of our minds and souls, to remove us from our self-absorption, and focus us outward and elsewhere to tell us who we are. Where we're going and who we ultimately are meant to be. We struggle with not only who we are but where we belong, who has claim over the essence of my soul.
In a very tender exchange between Jesus and his father, he says, "Of those who first believed, they belonged to you, and you gave them to me. What a tender exchange of trust and entrustment. He says those same words to us: "We belong. We belong to God.”
Hi everyone, and welcome to Weekly Homilies with Father Mark Suslenko, Pastor of SS. Isidore and Maria Parish in Glastonbury, Connecticut. We are part of the Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford. I'm Carol Vassar, parish director of communications, and this is Episode 20 of Season 6 for the Seventh Sunday of Easter: May 21, 2023. Our Gospel reading from John, Chapter 17, verses 1-11a
Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him. Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ. I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do.
Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began. “I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
“Home with God” by Father Mark S. Suslenko, Pastor, SS. Isidore and Maria Parish, Glastonbury, Connecticut
As we celebrated this past week, the very beautiful feast of Jesus' Ascension into heaven, I found myself reflecting upon the parable of the Prodigal Son. Now, as you sit here today, perhaps you're asking what could the parable of the Prodigal Son have to do with the Ascension of the Lord?
Remember in that very poignant story that we've heard many times over, and there is that pivotal point when that younger son goes to his father and he says, "Father, I want my share of the inheritance." I want my share of the inheritance. Henri Nouwen, the classical spiritual author, wrote a book, The Return of the Prodigal Son, and it's actually a reflection on Rembrandt's painting of the Prodigal Son. And in that reflection, he points to that moment when the younger son makes that request of his father. And what he says, what's really going on in that exchange, is this, that what the son is really saying without saying it is this: "Father, I can't wait for you to die." Father, I can't wait for you to die.
When we look at that in that context, it makes that request of the son even more offensive than it is at first glance. It really is a heartless rejection of the home in which that boy was born and nurtured and a true rupture and break with the traditions that upheld his request as being blatantly wrong. It was unheard of, then and even now, to make such a demand of one's father. That young man struggled with understanding the meaning of home, not in the physical sense, but in the spiritual one.
When Jesus ascended to his Father in heaven, Jesus simply went home. Jesus went home.
If we look at how Jesus taught and how he acted, he never lost touch with home. He knew inwardly where he came from and where he was going, and that allowed him to do the work that he had to do in between. You and I, in a deeply profound spiritual way, struggle with understanding our home. We struggle with staying home with God where we know we belong. It's almost as if we say to God, thank you, but no, thank you for the gift of life and for the promise of eternal life. But I'm gonna take that and go and do as I wish because I've got this. I can handle this. I know how to find happiness. I know where I need to go. It's not here, but I got it.
And so, without being a bad person, so to speak, we often find ourselves drifting away. Moving away from our center, from our focus, from where we know we really need and ought to be. We can find ourselves easily self-absorbed, even in things that may be legitimate at the time. We find ourselves misguided, confused. The enticements of the world wanna convince us of illusions about ourselves, illusions that promise some measure of contentment or happiness, and try one after the other; we fail to realize that none of that will ever satisfy this longing, this ache, this pining of our soul to find home. And so, in this seemingly endless search, we continue to look, and we continue to be disappointed.
Faith and good, healthy religion exist to keep us focused. To point to home, to remove some of the misguided notions, to break apart the illusions, to clear up the cobwebs of our minds and souls, to remove us from our self-absorption, and focus us outward and elsewhere to tell us who we are. Where we're going and who we ultimately are meant to be. We struggle with not only who we are but where we belong, who has claim over the essence of my soul.
In a very tender exchange between Jesus and his father, he says, "Of those who first believed, they belonged to you, and you gave them to me. What a tender exchange of trust and entrustment. He says those same words to us: "We belong. We belong to God.”
Father Mark Suslenko is the pastor of SS. Isidore and Maria Parish in Glastonbury, Connecticut. Learn more about our parish community at www.isidoreandmaria.org. And follow us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Our music comes free of charge from Blue Dot Sessions in Fall River, Massachusetts. I’m Carol Vassar. Thanks for joining us.