There once was a father that had two sons. The younger of the two went to his father and said, “Father, give me my portion of the inheritance.” So the father divided it and gave the son his half. A few days later the younger son left with his half into the far country. The son then wasted his inheritance foolishly and in an unruly way. Then there came a mighty famine to that country and the son was in need. He went to a citizen of the country and got a job at his farm of feeding the swine. He would have wanted to eat the corn husks that he fed to the swine but no one gave him any. The son thought to himself and said, “How many servants of my father are filled with bread, and I here die of hunger. I will rise and go to my father and say to him: Father I have sinned against heaven and before you, I am not worthy to be called your son. Make me one of your hired servants.” So the son left the farmer and started for his father’s house. And as the son was nearing his father’s house the father saw him from afar. The father seeing him

First of all what does “prodigal” mean? Prodigal means wasteful, playboy, squanderer, reckless, etc. The prodigal son is like us and the father is like God. We go out into the “country”, meaning the world, doing whatever we care to: wasting our gifts, blessings, and graces that God, the “father”, has given to us. As his punishments for his sins came, the son could not think about himself anymore and remembered his father and what he owed to him. The son realized the wrongs he had committed, and saw that because of what he did he was not worthy to be called the father’s son. What has that got to do with us? Well when we go to confession we recall our sins we have committed against God. We usually go , “I guess I will be sorry - but it really wasn’t that bad,” or, “Why should I be sorry for that?” For one thing that is a terrible attitude to have because you’ll begin by saying that with little things and then you’ll be excusing yourself for things as bad as murder! And another thing is that God has given us so much, like the father in the parable, and then we squander it foolishly and sin against God as did the son. What we should do is be like the son when he repented. He begged his father’s forgiveness and asked his father to let him become one of his servants. A little nobody who only has the privilege of being under him and serving him. That is being truly sorry. When you go to confession you should tell all your sins to the priest and beg God to forgive you and tell Him how unworthy you are to be called His child because of your sins. And most importantly you must be truly sorry for all the sins that you have committed. How do you know that you are truly sorry? If you are truly sorry for your sins you will try very hard the next time a temptation comes to fight it with all your might, calling upon your Guardian Angel for help and you will hate your sins. If you are truly sorry this is what will happen. God will forgive you! For in the parable after the son had shown his father how truly sorry he was, the father instantly forgave him and gave him more blessings, as God will give you more grace when you are truly sorry. Now it is not easy being so humble, but we actually will be much happier if we are. Think about it, if the prodigal son had not been humble, he would have died a proud death of starvation. The father was rejoicing in the return of his son who was, “dead and has come to life, was lost and has been found.” We were too, “dead to sin and have come to the life of Christ, were lost in the world of evil and have been found by God’s grace.” Now the elder son is like the loyal Catholics that have followed God’s law all their life, and when a great sinner as the younger brother comes back to the faith, all rejoice in his return. Everyone forgets how hard the older son has strived to please his father. God still loves all those who have strived hard to follow Him, but He wants us to rejoice for those who have been sincerely sorry for their sins and are no longer in grave danger. ­­Now what if the prodigal son had gone home and begged his father for forgiveness, and then turned around with more blessings that his father gave him and went back to wasting them again. That is not being very sorry now is it? See the difference? If you went to confession and said to God , “I am so sorry I did this, please forgive me,” and then you go out and do the same things again more than before, and this time maybe even worse things. No, that is not like the prodigal son. As the saying goes, “Actions speak louder than words.” Meaning you cannot tell God that you are sorry with your lips and not mean it from your heart. If you were truly sorry than you would strive hard to conquer that sin. Now God knows that you cannot change over night, but he does want to see a struggle at least. And he will not abandon you if you fall sometimes, but you must keep on trying. God will help you if you ask for help, for as the father ran to the prodigal son full of compassion, so will God come to you as you ask for help in time of temptation. If you are truly sorry for your sins God will truly forgive you.