Praying the Communion Antiphon
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Praying the Communion Antiphon |
A Time Set Apart: Saturday Second Week of Lent
Lost and Found
Communion Antiphon (Luke 15:32)
You must rejoice, my son, for your brother was dead and has come to life;
he was lost and is found.
Thinking About the Words
“You
must rejoice…”
The
father speaks these words to the elder son.
Notice
that joy is not optional. The father insists that rejoicing is the only fitting
response when someone returns.
“Your
brother was dead and has come to life.”
This
is strong language. The younger son had not physically died, yet the father
describes his return as coming back to life.
Sin
and separation diminish life. Returning restores it. The Church provides the sacrament
of Reconciliation as the means whereby our sin and separation is restored by
being reconciled with God. The priest is God’s representative but Jesus is
sitting there listening and wanting to give us His mercy.
“He
was lost and is found.”
This
echoes other parables in Luke’s Gospel — the lost sheep and the lost coin. Each
time, the story ends not with judgment but with celebration.
God’s
joy is at the centre.
And
this is prayed at Communion.
The
Eucharist is the table where the Father receives His children. Every return,
every act of repentance, every step toward God becomes a cause for joy.
Lent
is often thought of as a season of seriousness — and it is. But beneath that
seriousness is something deeper:
The
joy of being found.
Reflection
- Do I see
repentance primarily as sorrow, or as a return to life?
- Where
have I experienced the joy of being “found” by God?
- Do I
rejoice when others receive mercy?
- Am I
willing to believe that God welcomes my return with joy?
There
is a beautiful thread here in the series.
Earlier
this week we heard:
- God
loved us first.
- His
mercy endures forever.
Now
we hear the result of that mercy:
The
Father rejoices when His children return.
Lent
is not simply about examining where we have wandered.
It is about discovering again the joy of being welcomed home.
When
we sit with this antiphon, one question might be worth pondering quietly:
In
this parable, which character do you recognise more easily —
the younger son who returns, or the elder son who struggles to
rejoice?
Prayer
Father
of mercy,
when I wander, call me back.
When I return, receive me with joy.
Let me live in the freedom of being found.
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