Our Scripture today is from the story called the Parable of the Prodigal Son. This wasteful son dishonored his father and family, going into a land considered religiously unclean and, after wasting the inheritance given him by the father and on immoral living, ended up in a pig pen feeding swine. Jews considered swine unclean; so, this is like saying, “He hit rock bottom.” To all appearances this son had lost all his human dignity. He returned home, ready to live and work as a servant, but he got a surprise when his father met him, showered him with kisses, hugged him, and threw a big party for the son. The son was dressed in the garb of an honored child, along with a ring, which signified sonship.

What did the father see when seeing his lost son coming home? Did the dad see the filthy, sticky, faithless child? No, he saw something else. The father saw his boy clean of all the wrong and betrayal he had committed against the father and family, and the religion. The father saw the dignity of his boy, a dignity given the son and, so, a gift to be treasured and honored before all.

The loving gaze of the dad allowed the father to be restorative. The dad had every right to reprimand and reject the son. His heart would not let him. The heart of the father was so full of Love, he could only see his boy with Love. This is an insight into the Heart of God for each one of us, a heart that never can give up on the possibility of a son or daughter coming home, a heart longing to shower every person with graces plenty and eternal.

Joseph Langford, in his Mother Teresa's Secret Fire, speaks to the divinely-gifted dignity within each one of us, within every person:

Human dignity is not bestowed en masse,... There is no “generic” human dignity.

This very uniqueness lends an added dimension to our dignity-the fact that, even in its universality, it is a dignity that is ours alone. No one else can ever take our place; no one else has, nor will ever have, the same personality, the same combination of gifts and blessings, that God has prepared for each one of us.

Since our dignity is individual and unique, God's longing for us is likewise individual and unique. … No one else can satisfy God's thirst for love in the way that each of us can.

When the son was approaching him, the father of the prodigal did not see him with a generic love. The dad saw his boy in the uniqueness of a particular dignity. The father longed for him specifically, as a unique expression of the innate goodness given and left untarnished by all the mistakes the boy had made.

The prodigal son could not enjoy the father affirming his innate dignity as son, unless the son chose to position himself for that blessing. The father, also, refused to go get the boy. The boy had to arrive at wanting home more than all else, and in so doing he was able to be blessed by restorative love, amazing grace.

John Eldredge, in Waking the Dead, writes of our positioning ourselves to receive the Grace of Restorative Love. He refers to Revelation 3.20 (NKJV): “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” Eldredge clarifies that this principle of Grace waiting for our response remains throughout our spiritual journey. And, as Eldredge notes: “The work of Christ in healing the soul is a deep mystery, more amazing than open-heart surgery.” Indeed, we could say that God does, on a spiritual level, do open-heart surgery. We open our hearts, positioning ourselves for this deep and mysterious penetration of Love, and Grace does the rest, as we cooperate and honor our invitation to Christ, the opening of the door to Love.

We each, in different ways, find ourselves in the same need as the prodigal son. Sometimes we are more, sometimes less, aware of our need for Grace, for restoration, for healing. We can be encouraged that the Divine Presence sees us fully as a child of God, that nothing we have done, or could do, can mar our essential likeness to and union with Love.

With this confidence we can go daily to Christ, asking for Grace. We do not have to try to impress Christ with our repentance or penance. We do not need to fear God in a slavish, servile manner. We come to Love in Love. We cast ourselves upon the divine Benevolence. Grace penetrates our defenses and dissolves our resistances. All we need do is return home. All asked of us is our opening the door.

We do what we can, so that God can do so much more. Then, we find ourselves having the divine longing to help others claim the healing of Grace and restoration to the affirmation of their dignity as sons and daughters of God.

1.Reflect on a time you sensed Grace affirming your full acceptance as a son or daughter of God. What was that like for you?

2.What is entailed in the particular way that you express the divine dignity that you essentially are?

3.In what ways are you helping others claim divine healing and an embracing of their being unconditionally Loved by Love?

4.Have you ever had a person minister to you during a spiritual crisis and be for you a means of divine grace and healing, and restoration of your faith in the divine dignity that is your essence as a creation of God?

*OneLife Ministries is a ministry of Brian Kenneth Wilcox, SW Florida. Brian lives a vowed life and with his two dogs, Bandit Ty and St. Francis, with friends and under a vow of simplicity. Brian is an ecumenical-interspiritual leader, who chooses not to identify with any group, and renounces all titles of sacredness that some would apply to him, but seeks to be open to how Christ manifests in the diversity of Christian denominations and varied religious-spiritual traditions. He affirms that all spiritual paths lead ultimately back to Jesus Christ. He is Senior Chaplain for the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, Punta Gorda, FL.

*Brian welcomes responses to his writings or submission of prayer requests at briankwilcox@yahoo.com . Also, Brian is on Facebook: search Brian Kenneth Wilcox.

*Contact the above email to book Brian for preaching, Spiritual Direction, retreats, workshops, animal blessing services, house blessings, or other spiritual requests. You can order his book An Ache for Union from major booksellers.