4th Sunday of Lent

When the Prodigal Son "comes to himself" he says, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you." (Lk 15: 18) It's as if his eyes have been opened or he has awoken from a dream. How did he sin though? He left home - that is not so bad is it? He took with him what was his - likewise, no problem there. He spent all his money on dissolute living - surely, morally wrong but not a sin against the father, surely? He was in the pigsty -  it made him ritually unclean but again no offense against his own father. Wherein lies the real problem and what did the young man wake up to? I think his principle sin was that for the whole of his life he had refused to acknowledge and accept the love of his father for what it really was. He violated the 4th Commandent: "Honour your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you." (Ex 20: 12) In this way we can see that his sin is the same as that of the older brother who upbraids his father and disowns his brother. Both of the sons commit the same sin unfortunately only one of them repents of his hardness of heart and he only does this after a period of exile and suffering. The older brother, jealous of the young one's self-indulgence which he secretly craves to emulate, remains self-righteous and therefore unable to recognise how loving his father is. He is trapped by fear and resentment. Which of the two brothers am I? Am I able and willing to acknowledge God's love and mercy for what it really is? Have the scales fallen from my eyes? Maybe, this Lent, I too need to "come to myself."