Waiting in Hope

What impresses me most in the Prodigal Son story is the waiting and waiting and waiting of the father. We may know persons who are waiting someone’s return—an estranged friend, a faithless spouse, an absent parent, a wayward child, a son on a tour of duty, a neighbor in the hospital. Like the prodigal father, we wait for their return. We place these persons in our heart. In some situations we might also offer an invitation—to a penance service, counseling session, retreat, a healing service, a night out, an inclusion in a group. And pray, “O God, I’ll keep fattening the calf if you keep looking out for the return.”