The lessons of Lent: The prodigal son

It is like an examination period for a student. Oh no! When will this period end so that we can get groovy again? I can’t wait to have it done with. Then the flowers will blossom again. The music will come back to life, there will be laughter again and at least I can move […]

It is like an examination period for a student. Oh no! When will this period end so that we can get groovy again? I can’t wait to have it done with. Then the flowers will blossom again. The music will come back to life, there will be laughter again and at least I can move at my own speed without feeling guilty.  But is the Lenten season truly punishing?  Does Lent really slow us down? Is Lent a distraction from the usual daily routine? Is the Lenten period necessary and needed? Lent is much more than that.
James’ new car is smooth. The engine sounds cool and the fuel consumption is minimal. The music output is great and the gear system is superb. Feel the inner décor! What can one ask for in a machine that this wonder on wheels has not got? It is a summary of pleasure on wheels. James kept driving this car for weeks, then months, and then many months, and suddenly, almost one year. He started hearing a funny noise coming from the engine compartment. Surely this is not part of the music from the boom box! Well, let me keep going, this super machine is brand new. It has no reason to complain yet. “I put in millions of cash to acquire it. It cannot mess me up yet, not now”. But the truth is that the engine is tired. It has not been properly fed. It needed to visit the mechanic. One morning the noise became louder and Brother James had no option than to visit the mechanics. The engine compartment was opened, the ignition was turned on. Oh no! It was a knocking sound. The brand new car now has engine knock. What! Why? “Oga, which time you service am last?” “Are you crazy? Service this brand new machine? What for?” James shouted at the mechanic. James got a brand new car but never took care of it for almost a whole year and so it could not render the needed services for long. As a brand new car, the engine oil needed to be changed at least once in three months, depending on the usage. But James did nothing of such to the car but kept throttling until the worst happened. The engine oil became lighter and lighter until it could no longer lubricate the engine. The oil filter had become blocked from overuse and expired. The engine was dying gradually from lack of service.  
Human life is like that. The period of Lent is our season of break. It is the period when each person sits back to ask self questions and do personal life assessment. Unless you do that, you will surely have life engine knock. “An unexamined life is not what living” said the philosopher Socrates thousands of years ago. It is true that the season of lent maybe drowsy and dry. It may not be a season of great pleasure but it is a season of great grace, peace and joy. It is the season of great renewal. It should be a period every Christian looks forward to with expectation because it is a period that offers us a second chance. While it is true that every day is a gift from God and offers us the opportunity of a new beginning, but in lent, our individual and private Lenten penances are woven together into a rainbow of community appeal to God. It is like answering the request from God; “Order a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly you elders, summon everybody in the land to the Temple of the Lord your God and cry out to God” (Joel.1:14).
At this period, we are all united in fasting and prayer and realizing that you are not alone in this penance strengthens your will not to give up but to finish what you started. That is why the book of the Prophet Isaiah is generously read in the liturgy of the Catholic Church at this season. The first chapter of Prophet Isaiah sets the tone; “Let us reason together, said the Lord” (Isaiah 1:18). God simply invites and encourages us all to return. Prophet Joel captures it more aptly, “Thus says the Lord, come back to me with all your heart, fasting, weeping, mourning. Tear your hearts  and not your cloths, and come back to Yahweh your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in faithful love, and he relents about inflicting disaster” (Joel 2: 12-13). In Lent we journey back to the Father. “If today you hear his voice, harden not your heart” (Psalm 94:7-8). It is a period of coming back to our senses.
That was what the prodigal son did. The bible says the prodigal son “came to his senses and said … I will leave this place and go to my father and say: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you” (Luke: 15: 17-18). The Prodigal son is a perfect story replica of James and his brand new car. He decided to start a new life on his own, away from the father. He got what was his due well ahead of his time, but he went to a foreign country and squandered the new life and the opportunities it offered in debauchery. He thought that the life he had was about him alone. He never thought or imagined that he was accountable to anyone. He never sat down to take stock of his business, his enterprise and his own life. He just went on, firing on all cylinders in alcohol and licentiousness until the engine of his business crashed for lack of cash. He lost every sense of bride and integrity. He lost his senses and just wanted to remain afloat in the ocean of life. This was how he gave himself out to a local pig farmer as a hired hand. He realized his foolishness when he, the son of a slave owner became a slave to another person. When and how did I swap position? This was evident in his lamentation; “How many of my father’s hired men have all the food they want and more, and here am I dying of hunger!” (Luke 15:17). He did what was needed for his career to change, his thinking changed, his position changed, his prestige changed and he got back his integrity. “I will leave this place and go to my father and say…” (vs 18). He did not know that his father was not interested in what he came to say but what he has done. He arose and went to his father.
This is the whole essence of the Lenten period. Come back to your senses and arise and go back to your Father. He has told us “Come to me all you who work and are overburdened and I will give you rest for I am humble and tender in heart and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29). We have being working, running around, building a career, impressing our bosses, making money, acquiring properties and thinking that we are making a name without God’s input. The builders of the Tower of Babel tried it, the prodigal son tried it, and you are following in their footsteps. The prodigal son was lucky he came back to his senses and returned to his father and got his life back. You too can be lucky and that is why you have the Lenten Season to return to your Father. Remember that “Unless the Lord builds a house, the builders labour in vain” (Psalm 127:1). The Lenten season may be dry and uninteresting but that is what you need. It is your mechanic workshop. It is your desert experience. It is your re-awakening period. Lent is meant to slow you down so that you can think, assess your performance and life, if not you will crash. It is meant to let you pack the car of your life for a while and not overwork your engine unnecessarily without adequate servicing. It is meant to put you back into the original state. Jesus recommended it to his disciples.
Fasting purifies your mind and allows you to concentrate on what is necessary, “Man does not live on bread alone” (Matthew 4:4). Prayer keeps you in touch with God because prayer is actually touching God with your heart. “If my people who are called by my name should humble themselves and pray” (2Chronicle 7:14). The Prophet Isaiah said
Rev. Fr. Ojaje Idoko, Director of Pastoral Affairs Department, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria