I will get up and go to my Father and shall say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. – Luke 15:18
Have you ever felt like the prodigal son, far away from home? I have. Like the prodigal son, I had to listen to my conscience and come to my senses (cf. Luke 15:17). I knew I had the open arms of the Church to come home to, and I am still so very grateful. Though I had fallen away, I knew I could return home to the sacraments.
Exile is Costly
The prodigal son sent himself into exile, a place far from his home and those who loved him. A place where money could buy pleasure, but not for very long. A place where eating and drinking and even love cost money. At home, food, clothing, and love are free: “…every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Isaiah 55:1).
Reconciliation
When he returned home, he knew the first step was to ask for forgiveness. When father saw him off in the distance, he ran to him, “filled with compassion” (Luke 15:20). This is how God responds to our repentant hearts when we are standing in line for Reconciliation. Christ Himself is there waiting in the confessional for us to say we are sorry, and He gives His mercy to us freely.
Baptism
Then the father gives his son “the finest robe” (Luke 15:22). This could be seen as the baptismal robe where we are given life in Christ and become God’s beloved child. St. Gregory of Nyssa wrote that the father clothed the son “not with some other garment, but with the first, that of which we was stripped by his disobedience.” In Reconciliation, God restores our baptismal robe to its original glory.
Eucharist
Finally, the father feeds his son with a feast. When we return home, we are fed by Christ with His Body and Blood in the banquet of the Eucharist. It is then, after we are reconciled, re-clothed with the dignity of our baptism, and our soul is satisfied with the richest banquet (Psalm 63:5), this is when we have truly returned home and and “come to life again” in Christ (Luke 15:24).