The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming

by Henri J.M. Nouwen

beneath or beyond all that, “coming home” meant, for me, walking step by step toward the One who awaits me with open arms and wants to hold me in an eternal embrace.

It is the place of light, the place of truth, the place of love. It is the place where I so much want to be, but am so fearful of being. It is the place where I will receive all I desire, all that I ever hoped for, all that I will ever need, but it is also the place where I have to let go of all I most want to hold on to. It is the place that confronts me with the fact that truly accepting love, forgiveness, and healing is often much harder than giving it. It is the place beyond earning, deserving, and rewarding. It is the place of surrender and complete trust.

I knew that I would never be able to live the great commandment to love without allowing myself to be loved without conditions or prerequisites.

I had been working very hard on my father’s farm, but had never fully tasted the joy of being at home.

“Whether you are the younger son or the elder son, you have to realize that you are called to become the father.”

I am the prodigal son every time I search for unconditional love where it cannot be found.

The farther I run away from the place where God dwells, the less I am able to hear the voice that calls me the Beloved, and the less I hear that voice, the more entangled I become in the manipulations and power games of the world.

These voices lead me quickly to forget the voice that calls me “my son, the Beloved,” reminding me of my being loved independently of any acclaim or accomplishment.

While God wants to restore me to the full dignity of sonship, I keep insisting that I will settle for being a hired servant.

What is so clear is that God is always there, always ready to give and forgive, absolutely independent of our response.

The question is not “How am I to find God?” but “How am I to let myself be found by him?”

Can I accept that I am worth looking for? Do I believe that there is a real desire in God to simply be with me?

The parable of the prodigal son is a story that speaks about a love that existed before any rejection was possible and that will still be there after all rejections have taken place.

As I look at my own aging hands, I know that they have been given to me to stretch out toward all who suffer, to rest upon the shoulders of all who come, and to offer the blessing that emerges from the immensity of God’s love.