Our gospel reading this coming Sunday is the familiar and deeply moving parable of the prodigal son. The turning point of that story, of course, was when the younger son finally took responsibility for his actions. He admitted his guilt and his foolishness, and he resolved to do something about the terrible situation that he had gotten himself into. Had he never done this — had he never looked into his own heart and faced the reality of his own sinfulness — he probably would have spent the rest of his life with Porky Pig and his friends in that smelly pigsty, blaming everything and everyone else (including his father!) for the dire circumstances in which he was living.
It’s easy to blame others for our sins. Just ask Vladimir Putin and the leaders of the Russian military. They’ve become quite adept at denying responsibility for the many evils and atrocities that they’ve intentionally caused and participated in. And that denial has led, invariably, to more evils and to more atrocities.
Unfortunately we live in a world right now in which there are many “Putins”: a world in which taking responsibility for one’s actions is the exception, not the rule. Hopefully, we are one of those “exceptions.” If we are, then we will take advantage of the opportunity we have during this holy season of Lent to examine our lives, to take ownership of our sins — and to get rid ourselves of them in the sacrament of Reconciliation. It’s there that the Heavenly Father will lovingly forgive and embrace us, like the father in this parable forgave and embraced his repentant son.
