Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/614

 passions. Having thus  separated  himself  inwardly  from  God,  an  outward separation speedily  follows. He renounces  the  friendship  of  good  men, neglects the  services  of  the  Church  and  the  frequenting  of  the  Sacraments, follows his  own  way,  and  shamelessly  transgresses  God’s  commandments. He then  goes  into  a strange  and  distant  land,  namely  further  and  further from God:  The  "far  country”,  says  St.  Augustine,  "signifies  the  forgetfulness of  God”.

Almighty God  lets  the  sinner  go  his  own  way,  for  He  has  given to man  free-will,  and  does  not  want  a forced  obedience,  but  an  obedience springing from  love.

In his  forgetfulness  of  God,  the  sinner  squanders  his  fortune,  i.  e. the  natural  and  supernatural  gifts  which  he  has  received,  using  his natural gifts,  his  health,  his  physical  powers,  and  his  reason,  to  offend God. He acts  most  unjustly  and  ungratefully  towards  his  Creator  and Benefactor, and  loses  the  grace  of  God,  merit,  and  the  heirship  to  heaven.

The sinner,  having  forsaken  the  service  of  his  God,  falls  into  the servitude of  Satan,  and  becomes  the  slave  of  his  lowest  passions,  which are signified  by  the  swine  which  the  prodigal  was  constrained  to  feed. But the  more  he  obeys  his  passions,  the  more  dissatisfied  does  he  become. No pleasure  of  the  senses  can  give  him  happiness,  and  he  feels a void and  spiritual  hunger  in  his  heart  which  he  is  powerless  to  appease. He knows  no  rest;  he  only  knows  that  he  is  miserable,  and  hateful  to himself,  and  he  bitterly  tastes  the  truth  of  the  words  of  Scripture: "Know thou,  and  see  that  it  is  an  evil  and  a bitter  thing  for  thee  to  have  left the  Lord  thy  God”  (Jer.  2,  19).

2. The  sinner’s  conversion  or  return  to  God  begins  by  a sincere examination of  his  own  heart. Like the  prodigal,  he  must  enter  into himself, and  face  the  grievousness  and  number  of  his  sins. He must, by the  help  of  God’s  grace,  confess  that  his  conduct  has  been  wrong, ungrateful, and  foolish,  and  that  he  is  miserable  simply  because  he  has forsaken God. He must  try  to  recall  the  joy  and  peace  which  were his, before  he  fell  into  sin;  and  he  must  gaze  into  the  future,  at death,  judgment  and  eternity. Then there  will  rise  within  him  a longing desire to  be  at  peace  with  God,  and  sorrow  and  repentance  for  having ever separated  himself  from  Him.

The prodigal  son  lost  a great  deal,  but  he  did  not  lose  faith  in his  father’s  mercy,  and  therefore  did  not  despair. Thus a sinner  must fan the  flame  of  his  faith  in  God’s  mercy,  and  the  hope  of  forgiveness; and this  faith  and  hope  will  move  him  to  form  resolutions  of  amendment. "I will  arise  and  go  to  my  father”,  was  the  resolution  made  by  the prodigal.  This  resolution  was  a sincere  one,  for  he  determined  a)  to return  home  and  thus  avoid  sin  and  the  occasions  of  sin; b)  to  humble himself,  confess  his  sin,  and  obey  his  father; and  c)  to  do  penance  by hard,  servile  work  and  self-abasement.

The prodigal’s  contrition  was  real,  interior  and  supernatural; therefore he  hastened  to  cast  himself  humbly  at  his  father’s  feet,  confess  his