The complaint of the elder brother, in the Gospel today, is: "Listen! For all these year I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends." (Lk 15 ; 29) Elsewhere, in the same Gospel, Jesus speaks of the attitude of a master to a disciple: "Do you thank a slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say: 'We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!'" (Lk 17: 9-10) It seems that being a disciple of the Lord is not a rewarding occupation! However, let us listen carefully to the response of the Father: "Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours." (Lk 15; 31) What a blessed thing it would be to always in the presence of the Lord! Think of what it is to possess all that is his - the resurrection! When we have truly encountered Christ and given ourselves over to him our personal attributes and prosperity mean nothing. Our social status and reputation pale into insignificance. St Paul writes: "Yet, whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him...". (Phil 3: 7-9)
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