By Sophie Wun
In 1 Corinthians 13:1-2, St Paul writes, ‘If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.’
It is easy to understand what St Paul writes, but even easier to make the same mistake he calls out here. If we have sufficiently ordered our life around Christ and regularly attend Mass, pray, receive the Sacraments and read the Bible, we may think that we are doing more than enough in our relationship with God. However, whether these activities transform our hearts with the love of God is a separate matter.
The Jealousy of the Elder Son
This is what happens to the elder son in the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), where he witnesses his younger brother be welcomed back by his father and is overcome with anger and disbelief, refusing to rejoice over his brother’s return. He had been the one faithfully working for his father all these years, and thus, he should rightfully be the one who is celebrated. In his eyes, his younger brother had done nothing to earn such love and affection, and thus His father’s rejoicing is nothing short of undeserved.
At first glance, we can view the elder son’s negative reaction as a mere protest for justice. When his father pleads with him to join the celebration, he responds, “All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!” (Luke 15:29-30). We might empathise with his reaction, because the father, out of his mercy, does not seem to be treating the younger son justly. The question of God the Father’s just and merciful nature is called into question here, but St Thomas Aquinas explains: “ God acts mercifully, not indeed by going against His justice, but by doing something more than justice; thus a man who pays another two hundred pieces of money, though owing him only one hundred, does nothing against justice, but acts liberally or mercifully. Hence it is clear that mercy does not destroy justice, but in a sense is the fullness thereof.” (Summa Theologiae 1:21:3)
Finding True Security
The elder son’s sonship was not founded on the father’s love but in his work. Thus, even though physically present with the father, he has spiritually departed from him, a parallel to his younger brother’s physical departure. The elder son compares himself to a ‘slave’ to his father, and his heart is so hardened toward mercy that he cannot accept the father’s mercy, and thus, fails to extend mercy to his younger brother. He addresses his brother as ‘this son of yours’, instead of as his brother, cognizant of how he has unconsciously separated himself from his family. When the father does not let the younger son’s deeds define his love, the elder son’s veneer of self-righteousness is shattered, and he gets frustrated.
Many of us may have similar experiences, finding it easy to identify with the elder son. When we have been giving our best – whether in service, work, or even relationships – and things do not go our way,
it is easy to lose our temper at God and question Him. Why do you let this happen to me? Did I do something wrong? I am doing all these things for you but I am not being rightfully rewarded. Like the elder son, we reduce ourselves from our identity as children to one of a slave. Rather than receiving love simply for who we are, we cling to our achievements as proof that we are worthy of it. Yet, this fatherly love is more radical than we can imagine, a love that knows no bounds and does not measure the works of his children.
Which is why, in the face of the elder son’s accusations, the father does not placate him with another fattened calf or respond in anger. Instead, He reassures him firmly. ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ (Luke 15:31) The father invites the elder son to step out of his pride and jealousy and call him to deeper sonship with him, so that he can find greater security in his identity as His child. When he receives the father’s love, and accepts his identity as His child, he can then begin to see others as children, including his younger brother. He can rejoice because he no longer is focusing on what he does not have in comparison to others, but rather, on what he is freely given as a child of God and how others receive that freely too.
When we are frustrated at God, that our actions seem to go unrewarded, or feel like God disproportionately rewards others more than ourselves, we are invited to recognise the elder son within ourselves. Not to wallow in misery, but to recognise our sonship founded on love beyond our pride. We too, are children of the Most High, who invites us into deeper love with Him each time we settle for too little for ourselves.
