There were Two Brothers Sunday Homily

Guesthouse Chapel Homily 18th Sun 2007

“There were Two Brothers” are words that sound like the stuff for a good novel.
“Tell my brother to give me a share of our inheritance”, Lk. 12:13. All through the Scriptures there is the motife two brothers; Cain and Abel – from Genesis to Geoffrey Archer, Isaac and Ishmael still playing out the story of the Israelis and Palestinians, Peter and Andrew, James and John. My big brother is here at present from the monastery in Bamenda. There is a distance of 1,500 miles separating us so we are able to keep the peace of brothers.
Compared to the case of the two brothers, which Jesus dismisses curtly,(“Man, who appointed me to judge . . .”), St. Luke gives us the great parable of another two brothers, that is in the story of the Prodigal Son. That younger son asked his father to give him his inheritance now and he goes off to squander everything.
Most people agree that the centre of the story was not the Prodigal Son but the Prodigal Father, the father prodigal in generosity to the wastrel son, prodigal in the mercy of welcoming him back home.
Others think the story should be called the ‘Parable of the Two Sons’, because the camera is just as much on the older son. In fact St. Luke forms the trilogy of three parables, the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, the Lost Son. In Luke 15:11 Jesus said, “A man had two sons . . .”
In his latest book, “Jesus of Nazareth”, Benedict XVI has a key section on the ‘Christ in the Parable of the Two Sons’. This is a runaway best seller of a book. Reviews everywhere refer to it as the best book of Joseph Ratzinger. (Strangely the NYT Reviews fails to list I). The Personal Secretary of the Pope said in a notable interview, “Benedict XVI is not only brilliant but he is easily understood by all”. Someone else said, “John Paul II opened the hearts of people – Benedict XVI fills them”.
May the words of the great new book, ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ fill our hearts.
But where does that bring us to regarding the text of today’s homily, (“Tell my brother to give me a share of our inheritance”)?
On this occasion Jesus is not getting drawn into of trivial pursuits of the Rabbis. The Torah has laid down that the double portion of the inheritance went to the older brother. Jesus simply bye passes this conundrum and goes on to teach about something that bites much closer to the knuckle – avarice and greed. I have come across some heavy weight commentaries on just how awful the sin of avarice is and just how misplaced it is. Like the man with his bigger harvest barns there is the millionaire not happy with the profit of one million impelled to make 10 million. What is it for? What is it all about? What are you adding to yourself? You are adding zeros. What is the difference between one million and 10 million? Just another zero! What a way to treat yourself – so much work for zero.
Qoholeth (Ecclesiastes) in the First Reading proclaims, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity”. The very word vanity refers to the illusion of riches. TV is the greatest projector of illusion of illusions. Avarice or greed extends everywhere, whether it is riches or power or other forms avarice. A survey was made about whether regarded themselves as beautiful. Nine out of ten women felt they were unattractive. It used to be that the things young women wanted were a car or a luxury cruise. Now the highest demand in the market is for cosmetic surgery. So worse than avarice is the loss of appreciation of the beauty of the way God made them.
But I like to think of Jesus telling these parables with a human understanding. Jesus sees the tycoon of success, the politician of power, the wonder woman of appearance, is as singles minded as he or she is short-sighted, “Fool. This night your soul is required of you”. St. Paul’s tells us in the NT Reading, “Because we have been raised with Christ we have to seek the things that are above”.
Note that Jesus speaks of a MAN going to build his bigger barns. He was asked about the inheritance of the two brothers but he only speaks of a MAN set on his storage. He does not use the word ‘father’ for the owner. He is a MAN who is all for himself, has all for himself. There is no reference to his family or anyone other than himself.
In complete contrast is Jesus’ description of the inheritance that highlights the relations of the father and the two sons. Evidently the prodigal son was not attached to the father’s wealth, the father is free of possessiveness and thinks not only of the younger son but also of the elder brother – “your are with me always and all I have is yours.”

Like Benedict XVI’s exposition of the ‘Parable of the Two Sons’, the incomparable painting of Rembrandt is another powerful evocation of the relationships in this parable. It is a theme which inspired Henri Nouwen’s to write his moving book “The Return of the Prodigal Son”.

A closing reflection takes us to Jesus own relation to His Father. His parables are but faint image of His relationship with the Father. Jesus had a mighty work to do, nothing less than the work of saving us by His death. That was a work much mightier than the construction of a large harvest barn or the world’s great projects.
Jesus does not even think in these terms – His only term is “doing the Fathers will”.
If we can discover that great secret of His in our own lives we can begin to know the love that is totally the love of the Father, the love of doing His will.