The squall was so bad that most everyone and everything on the ship not nailed down had been washed overboard. As a last resort, he offered a brief prayer, his first in many years, and begged the Lord for mercy and forgiveness. His answer came and he was delivered from the storm.
The gale which had nearly ended John’s life had instead changed it forever. John Newton went on to translate his experience into writing and the story of the stormy day that changed his life became the basis for the hymn, “Amazing Grace.”
Like the prodigal son in the parable, John indicated, “I once was lost but now am found…” and “twas grace that brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home.”
Newton died at the age of 82 and never tired of telling the tale of how he was the prodigal son in the Gospel passage, and God, like the loving father in the Gospel story, took his stray son back unconditionally so that they might rejoice together and begin their relationship anew.
This Gospel passage contains three parables, each with the same theme: Something or someone is lost and then found and then great rejoicing ensues. This Gospel section is a celebration of hope as the one who has experienced loss seeks out what is missing. Everyone at some point or another loses something important, perhaps a piece of jewelry or a necessary set of keys or has lost touch with someone significant.
The reunion which accompanies the discovery of that which was lost helps us to understand how important we are to God. It is amazing to think that everyone and everything that is, was, or ever will be comes from the mind of God, yet each one of us, individually, is so uniquely important to Him!
The story of the prodigal son is one of the best loved parable in the scriptures, because it is the one to which people identify so readily. We often sin and stray, yet God always takes us back and does so without any hesitation, totally and completely; indeed, He rejoices at our return! The Gospel tells us, “there is more rejoicing in heaven over the return of one repentant sinner than over 99 people with no need of repentance.”
The heavens are bursting with saints who led sinful lives and then returned to God; this gives us tremendous hope. There are some who could have simply despaired and decided that God’s mercy was not big enough for them. Yet we number among the greatest saints, people like Paul of Tarsus who once persecuted Christians, yet went on to evangelize a significant part of what was then the known world. There are others such as St. Augustine who was living a very sinful life, yet turned to Christ and told the world about returning to God in his book, Confessions.
These saints knew that to be a follower of Christ does not mean we never fall, but when we do, we have the courage to get back up and to keep trying. Our loving Father will take us back and give us another chance.
(This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)
