HOMILY for March 31, 2019: 4th Sunday in Lent, Cycle C

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4^th Sunday of Lent, Cycle C

Terranova Hermitage

March 31, 2019

Sandals: Symbols of Freedom or Slavery

By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato 

 

Sandals

Most of us have or have had a pair of sandals.

I’ve got a pair of Rockports and I am thinking that they are about ten years-old now. Well, if we wear sandals, it’s mostly just in warmer weather.

But back in Jesus’ day, sandals were all folks had. There were no shoes and they either wore sandals or they went barefoot.

Furthermore, in Jesus’ day sandals had a symbolic meaning. If you wore sandals, it meant that you were a free person.

If you had no sandals and went barefoot, that signified that you were a slave. Now this point about sandals is helpful in understanding today’s Gospel and the three persons in this story.

The Younger Son

First, there is the younger son.

This younger son is something like a children who talk back to their parents or like teenagers who rebel against everything their parents tell them to do.  

Or like adults who don’t make time for their parents, especially when they are aging and in need. My bet is that in some way or at some point in our lives, we have all been something like the younger son in this parable. 

Now, the significant thing in the story is that the younger son comes home barefoot.  He left with sandals and he returns barefoot.

Notice that he plans to say to his father, “I am not worthy to be called your son, so just treat me as one of your slaves.”  That is his understanding of his relationship with his father and both his bare feet and his words declare him a slave and not a son.

He realizes that he has lost that close, father-son relationship. He is without sandals, barefoot, both physically and spiritually.

 

The Older Son

Then, there is the older son.

I think we can also identify with him. This older son is something like us when we too resent any good fortune that comes to others.

There’s this expression today: “Zero-Sum Game.” That expression means that one person’s gain must mean the other person’s loss.

Well, this older son in the story seems to have fallen into this trap when it comes to the love of his father. He seems to think that the attention the father gives to the younger son must be a lessening of the father’s love for him.

So, this older son doesn’t address his father with “Father” or “Dad” and he resentfully refers to his younger brother as “your son.” On top of that, he talks about his work on the family farm simply as service and as obeying him all these years. 

So, this older son, physically, is wearing sandals, but spiritually, he is really barefoot, without sandals. He also sees himself as more of a slave than as a son who would be working out of love for his father. 

 

The Father

Finally, there is the father.

Initially, the father must have been deeply hurt when his younger son asked for his share of the inheritance ahead of time. He knew that this amounted to his sons’ saying that his father was as good as dead to him. 

But still, the father respects this son request and gives him the freedom to choose. Then, when this son returns, he runs out to greet him and what does he do? 

He embraces him, puts a pair of sandals on his feet and a ring on his finger. He wants him to know that he’s not a slave, but a son – welcomed back fully into the family.

In the same way, the father takes the initiative to go out and talk with the older son. He doesn’t debate that son’s hostile feelings nor does he put him down.

He just says, “Okay, but come on in and celebrate together as a family.”He is giving this son spiritual sandals and letting him know that he is his son and wants him.

Conclusion

So, in this unforgettable story, Jesus wants us to know that God is like this father.

God has put sandals on our feet. God welcomes us back after we have wandered off or been very self-absorbed. 

God continues to treat us with love and respect. Why?

So that we can choose to grow to become like the father in the story, like God himself in whose image we are created. Our sandals can remind us of this free and wonderful opportunity God gives us.