Famously, the people of Israel spent 40 years wandering in the desert before crossing into the Promised Land. It’s worth remembering that this time of exile from the Promised Land was, in a real sense, self-imposed. God had commanded them to cross over and possess the land, yet fearing those who already occupied it, they refused to enter. Thus, they had to wander in the desert until they learned to trust in God’s love for them and believe in his providence (see Numbers 13). Only then could they cross the Jordan and dwell in the land.

A similar theme emerges in the Gospel parable of the father and his two sons. Both already dwelled in the father’s house and experienced his provident care. Yet, both were separated from full union with the father’s love.

 The younger son’s separation is the most obvious. His words to his father, ‘Give me my inheritance,’ reveal that in his heart, he had already left the father’s presence, and his subsequent self-imposed exile was merely the physical manifestation of a more profound spiritual separation. His father might as well be dead to him. It is not the father who is dead, in fact, but rather the heart of the son.

The elder brother is also separated from the father, even though he remains in his physical vicinity. This is seen in his bitter and resentful understanding of his relationship with the father, expressed in his complaint: ‘I have been working like a slave for you.’ He, too, lives in self-imposed spiritual exile.

God never separates himself from us; he places no barriers in our way. It is we who erect obstacles and turn our hearts away from the Father’s care.

The steadfast love of the father in the parable is an image of God’s trustworthy love for all his sons and daughters. So, too, is God’s patient care for the people of Israel, even as they wander in self-imposed exile. We never need to fear that we have squandered God’s love, even if we have wandered far and lived long in the exile of sin. We need only turn our hearts back to him, ending our self-imposed exile, and he runs to meet us. Though we are dead in sin, we can start anew in Christ and be restored to life!

The ultimate sign of God’s unfailing love is the cross of Christ. If I ever find myself exiled in heart and mind from the Father’s house or, through timidity, wandering in the desert, refusing to cross the Jordan, I remember that in Christ, God has reconciled the world to himself, and is not counting my trespasses against me (c.f. 2 Corinthians 5:19). God never gives up on us! The Father’s love is always with us, and he gives everything he has so that we might truly dwell with him.

by Fr Michael Grace