Appeared in The Catholic Virginian March 6, 2000

 Jubilee 2000 Homecoming

While on retreat with bishops in January, I had the opportunity to read the book, "The Return of the Prodigal Son" by the late Henri Nouwen. Upon reflection, I realize that all of us, myself included have been the prodigal son as portrayed in Luke’s gospel. It is a story of a home - coming after a home leaving, a coming back after going away. The son is taking what is rightfully his – his share of the inheritance and goes off to a "distant country". For us, in one way or another, there is the spiritually "leaving home". Leaving home in the words of Nouwen means "ignoring the truth that God has fashioned me in secrets, molded me into the depths of the earth and knitted me in my mother’s womb. Leaving home is living as though I do not yet have a home and must look for and wide to find
one."

Home is the center of my being where I can bear the voice that says "You are my beloved, in you my favor rests." Unfortunately, other voices give other alternative messages, just as Jesus experienced in the desert. Our self-worth is in being successful, popular and powerful. It is that definition of the Beloved of God, then I brood over someone else’s successes, my own loneliness, my anger and resentments, my greed and antagonists, my unrest and dissatisfaction and my disappointments because of the actions of others. To compensate, I become addictive to the need for self-fulfillment, the accumulation of wealth and power, the attainment of status and admiration, the lavish consumption of food and drink. Somewhere in my life I want to come home to my Father’s house where I will
experience unconditional love and acceptance.

The prodigal son became fully aware how lost he was when no one showed him the slightest interest in him. Others took interest in him only as long as he could be used for their purposes. But when he had no money left to spend and no gifts to give, he stopped existing for them. He became a person when no one shows any sign of recognition. The prodigal son was completely alone and because of that loneliness he remembered his Father’s house. He prepares the way home which can be very long and arduous.

Homecoming is at the heart of the Jubilee Year. In Leviticus (25:10) we read, "This fiftieth year, you shall make sacred by proclaiming liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you when everyone and you shall return to his own property, everyone to his family estate." In those days the land of Israel was divided among the 12 tribes of Israel. When a person wandered beyond the boundary of the land of his tribes, he became as a slave, without rights or ownership. At Jubilee time he would return home to freedom and obtain what was rightfully his.

How important it is during the Jubilee 2000 that we first and foremost return to the home of ourselves. We have gotten away from the ideals and values that were imbedded within us as we were growing up. Material things distracted and clouded our vision. Things such as success and advancement took the place of spirituality, cantered in the Lord. We have lived at a fast pace with little or no time for prayer and reflection. Finally one begins to question and search in order to know what life is all about. We have found that the busier I am and the more successful I have become, the less happy and contented I am the more restless I have become for that which gives meaning and purpose. I must retrace my meaning and purpose. I must retrace my steps and come home to myself where I rediscover the ultimate other who is God.

How important in the Jubilee to come home to family. For years perhaps I have lived with feuds that are never resolved, I have experienced division and separation from parents, from spouses, from brothers and sisters. Coming home to family can be a difficult arduous journey because perhaps I am not willing to take the first step toward forgiveness and reconciliation. And so I wallow in self-pity and self-deception. I have almost come to enjoy the bitterness and even hate. However much pain and embarrassment I know, if I want inner peace, the peace of Christ I must return to my Father’s house.

How important during Jubilee year that I return to my spiritual home, the Catholic Church. I had so many reasons for leaving in the first place. Perhaps I became indifferent and just drifted away. Other things became more interesting to me and captured my attention. Perhaps I have been deeply hurt by the Church I once loved and enjoyed. A priest scolded me or belittled me in front of pothers. The Ch8rch for me seemed more interested in enforcing regulations that giving comfort. I have been hurt by the Church or because of the Church. And so far for whatever reason I leave and drift away. I seem to get along just as well without the Church telling me what I ought to be doing. Do I have the courage to return to my spiritual roots? Will I be invited back or accepted back? What will others think of me? Jubilee is all about returning to our Father’s house to receive his loving embrace and his
unconditional love.

Henri Nouwen puts an interesting slant on the story of the Prodigal Son. The mystery is that Jesus himself became the Prodigal Son for our sake. He left the house of his heavenly Father, came to a distant land and gave away all that he had. All this he did not as a rebellious son but an obedient one, seen to bring back all the lost children of God. Jesus is the innocent who became sin for us, was at home with tax collectors, prostitutes, and sinners, who spent is time with the sic, the possessed the poor. One the cross he offered his life, his body his blood and felt abandoned by his Father. On the third day he rose from the depths of hell and re-ascended to his Father’s House. The return of the Son of God has drawn all people to him and brings us home to our heavenly Father. We find that
our home and the home over Jesus are one. There is no journey to God outside the journey that Jesus made.

Our homecoming to our eternal father depends on our returning home to our spiritual roots and to the spiritual home of our faith.