Saturday in the Second Week of Lent

The Parable of the Prodigal Son ends abruptly, without telling us the older brother’s decision. Did he enter the celebration or not?   After years of obeying his father, did he now refuse what his father asked of him?  Jesus leaves us in suspense, because like the older brother, the end of our personal stories has not yet been written.  Will our choices end in tragedy or happiness?  

The father’s joy over his lost and found prodigal son is eclipsed by the older son’s resentment.  Even if he enters the celebration, what will happen when the feasting is over?  Everything the father has belongs to the older son. Will he share it with the squanderer who swallowed up his portion of the inheritance with prostitutes?  He won’t even call him “my brother.”  The parable ends without resolution, reflecting the broken relationships that exist in so many families and among so many peoples and nations. The parable leaves us with the question: Do we have any broken relationships that need mending?