Jesus loved to tell stories so that we would really understand what he knew. Here's one of his best.

Once a man had two sons. The younger son said to his father, " Give me my share of the property." So the father divided his property between his two sons.

Not long after that, the younger son packed up everything he owned and left for a foreign country,
where he wasted all his money on wild living.

He had spent everything, when a bad famine spread throughout the whole land. Soon he had nothing to eat.

He went to work for a man in that country, and the man sent him out to take care of his pigs. He would have been glad to eat what the pigs were eating, but no one gave him a thing.

Finally he came to his senses and said, "My father's workers have plenty to eat, and here I am, starving to death! I will go to my father and say to him,
"Father I have sinned against God in heaven and against you. I am no longer good enough to to be called your son. Treat me like one of your workers."

The younger son got up and started back to his father. But when he was still a long way off, his father saaw him and felt sorry for him. He ran to his son and and hugged and kissed him.

The son said, "Father I have sinned against God in heaven and against you. I am no longer good enough to to be called your son."

But the father said to the servants, "Hurry and bring the best clothes and put them on him. Give him a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. Get the best calf and prepare it, so we can eat and celebrate. This som of mine was dead but has now come back to life. He was lost and now has been found. " And they began to celebrate.The older son had been out in the field. But when he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants over and asked, "What's going on here?"

The servant answered, "Your brother has come home safe and sound, and your father ordered us to kill the best calf." The older brother got so angry that he would not even go into the house.

His father came out and begged him to go in. But he said to his father, " For years I have worked for you like a slave and have always obeyed you. But you have never given me even a little goat so I could have a dinner for my friends. The other son of yours wasted your money on bad living. And now that he has come home, you ordered the best calf to be killed for a feast?"

His father replied, "My son you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we should be glad and celebrate! Your brother was dead, but he is now alive. He was lost and has now been found."

Questions...

Sometimes we act and feel like the younger brother. Sometimes we act like the older brother.
Today, who do you feel more like: the younger or the older brother?

The older brother found it hard to forgive the younger brother.
Who you find it hard to forgive?

God is REALLY good at forgiving.
How did you feel when you knew that God was forgiving you in the Sacrament of Reconciliation?

Would you like to see a calendar which has the stories of Jesus (the gospel) for the next couple of months?
Click on the button below and when you see the calendar, click on the date you'd like to read the gospel for.