Like the Prodigal Son

“Our eldest 17 year-old son didn’t come back home one night. What were we to think? He had never caused us worry before. All we could do was pray. The next morning, through the parents of two of his friends, we found out that the three of them had gone to Florence. Somebody wanted to call the police, another insisted he would have nothing more to do with his son. My wife and I, instead, tried to remain calm; we had put everything in God’s hands. Every so often, we would receive some news of them.

While it was a big suffering, we felt very united as a family. There was one thing we all agreed on: we would have welcomed him back with joy, just like in the parable of the prodigal son, without laying on the guilt for his childish behaviour. A week later, the three of them came back home. Our son, having felt our love, was truly sorry for what he had done and assured us he would never do anything like that again. When he found out that his mates had been treated somewhat differently, he was all the more grateful for having a family where everyone tries to live the Gospel.” F.A. – Rome

A Shared Suffering

“The father and sister of my daughter’s friend died in an accident. I had lost my father in similar circumstances. Even though I only knew her mother by sight, when I heard what had happened, I felt compelled to visit her. But I didn’t want it to be just a simple visit. Knowing that she was in financial difficulties, I took her various food items and I tried to console her. I visited her quite often. I even gave her some money I had set aside for us. As time went by, she felt much stronger, more reassured and grateful for the friendship which had blossomed among us, thanks to the suffering that we shared.” B.G. – Bolivia

The beanie

“It was winter time and my friends and I were playing in the school yard. It was very cold. At one stage, a little girl started crying. Her woollen hat didn’t quite cover her ears and they were so cold they hurt her. I wanted to love Jesus in her so I gave her my own beanie which kept her warm.” J. – Belgium

Morning tea

“I was having a snack in the playground. I saw a friend of mine pull another girl’s hair. I left my snack on the wall and I went up to her to say not to do that because Jesus said that we had to love all the time. But then, since both of them started crying, I went to get my snack and I shared it with both of them. It’s true that I was quite hungry, but I was happy because I was able to love.” Valentina – Italia.

Source: “The Daily Gospel” April 2015, Città Nuova publishing house