Our Gospel is from the 15th chapter of St. Luke today. Here, Jesus tells a story about a young person who moves far from home.
One day, a young man receives a startling opportunity. He boldly and insultingly had asked his father for his share of his future inheritance. When the dad complies -- dividing his assets and meting out what will one day belong to his younger son -- the boy leaves.
This young man travels far from home. But he doesn't attend the finest schools, find a good job or in any other way use this opportunity to improve himself. Instead, he squanders the money in "extravagant living," as Jesus so delicately puts it.
After some time in his new home, this son, saw how his life had hit rock bottom.
Jesus says it was then that this young man came to himself. He had turned his dad's treasure into trash, and it was time to turn his life around. He devised a plan for going home, and rehearsed an apology. In humility, he would ask his dad for a job.
Thankfully, this is not the end of this young man's story, because, the father sees value where others don't.
