Taking Back Ground in Our Own Lives for the Kingdom
March 15, 2023
Fr. John Riccardo
This past Saturday, the Church set before us in the Scriptures the oh-so-familiar and yet ever-new Gospel that is the parable of the Prodigal Son. There’s always something fresh in this story from Jesus. Of course, it's really not about the son who squandered his father’s inheritance or the son who was bitter over his return; it’s about the father, who Jesus is revealing in His ministry of forgiveness.
For me, these lines especially stood out in prayer: “When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need. So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine.” (Luke 15:14-15).
This is about as low as a person can fall. A Jewish son, heir to his father’s significant wealth, runs out of that wealth and then hires himself out – sells himself to another – to feed … pigs. Pigs! A Jewish man enslaves himself to feed an unclean animal that he himself cannot eat. This is a truly pathetic state.
This is what sin is. Sin is giving ourselves over to something – someone – who not only cannot satisfy us but who is literally hell-bent on degrading and enslaving us.
We speak often in ACTS XXIX about our mission as disciples, convinced that it’s not enough for us to be overwhelmed by the gospel or surrender ourselves to Jesus in faith – crucial as these both are. We need, as disciples, to be mobilized for mission, using the natural and supernatural gifts the Lord has entrusted to us so as to do what we can to resist, recreate, transform, heal, and reconcile this world which God loves until the day when Jesus returns and all is gloriously made new.
I recently came across a quote, however, that has been most helpful for connecting this missionary dimension of our life with the serious pursuit of holiness. “Holiness and mission are two sides of the same coin. Both involve bringing the reign of Jesus to bear in places where up to now the powers have held sway” (N.T. Wright, The Day the Revolution Began). In other words, just as Jesus sends us out into the world to take back territory that the enemy has defaced, twisted, perverted, distorted and more, so we are to engage in a serious campaign in our own lives to do the same.
Wright goes on to say, “Every time you are tempted to sin, you are being asked to hand over to some alien force a little bit of your own God-given power, which is supposed to be exercised over yourself, your life, and the parts of the world you touch.”
This is what the younger son did in the parable. This is what we do whenever we sin.
As we continue our Lenten journey, let us be earnest about the work of taking back ground for the kingdom of God, wielding “the weapons” of righteousness, goodness, love, mercy, truth, and more. But let us also see this season as a grace-filled time to take back ground in our own lives, “bringing the reign of Jesus to bear in places where up to now the powers have held sway.”
Follow the ACTS XXIX journey to the Holy Land.
Watch the video series here: ACTS XXIX in the Holy Land