Patrick Comerford
Lent began over two weeks ago on Ash Wednesday (5 March 2025), and tomorrow is the Third Sunday in Lent (Lent III).
Before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:
1, reading today’s Gospel reading;
2, a short reflection;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;
4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.
Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32 (NRSVA):
1 Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’
3 So he told them this parable:
11 … ‘There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.” So he divided his property between them. 13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and travelled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. 14 When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. 16 He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. 17 But when he came to himself he said, “How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.’” 20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. 21 Then the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” 22 But the father said to his slaves, “Quickly, bring out a robe – the best one – and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24 for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” And they began to celebrate.
25 ‘Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. 27 He replied, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.” 28 Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. 29 But he answered his father, “Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!” 31 Then the father said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found”.’
Today’s Reflection:
Today’s Gospel reading at the Eucharist in the Lectionary (Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32) is the Parable of the Prodigal Son, one of the best-known parables, even among people who seldom go to church, and it is one of the parables that are unique to Saint Luke’s Gospel.
We are going to hear this parable again in the Gospel reading (Luke 15: 1–3, 11b–32) tomorrow week, on Lent IV or Mothering Sunday (30 March 2025). I shall reflect on this parable again that morning (see HERE). But this morning I am reminded how the Parable of the Prodigal Son was used in a course on Muslim-Christian dialogue I did 30 years ago, back in 1995.
At the time, I was the newly-appointed Foreign Desk Editor of The Irish Times, and I was writing a number of features on Islam and on Muslim-Christian dialogue. I realised I needed to ‘upskill’ myself in these areas, building on my theological education, and the editor, Conor Brady suggested I identify some short courses that could equip me in these fields.
I took two courses, one year after another. The first was a short residential course at CME level in the then Church of Ireland Theological College in Dublin in 1995, organised by the Revd Declan Smith of the Church Mission Society (CMS).
That course was delivered by the Revd Dr Colin Chapman, a British missiologist who specialises in Islamic studies. He worked in the Middle East for 18 years for CMS and the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES). He taught in Cairo, Bethlehem and Beirut, where he was a lecturer in Islamic studies at the Near East School of Theology (1999-2003). He also taught at Trinity College, Bristol, and was the principal of Crowther Hall, the CMS college in Selly Oak, Birmingham.
Colin Chapman’s publications include Cross and Crescent: Responding to the Challenges of Islam (1988, 2007), Islam and the West (1998), Whose Promised Land?: the continuing conflict over Israel and Palestine (1983, 1992, 2002, 2015), Whose Holy City? Jerusalem and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (2004) and ‘Islamic Terrorism’: Is There a Christian Response?’ (2005).
His Cross and Crescent was submitted in conjunction with his thesis ‘Teaching Christians about Islam: a Study In Methodology’ at the Centre for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, Selly Oak, at the Department of Theology in the University of Birmingham in September 1993, a year before I took his course in Dublin.
He was strongly influenced by the work of the American theologian Professor Kenneth Bailey (1930-2016), who also taught at the Near East School of Theology in Beirut (1962-1985) and at the Ecumenical Institute for Theological Research in Jerusalem.
On that course in Dublin, as throughout his work, Colin Chapman drew heavily on the Parable of the Prodigal Son, which he finds unique in the context of Christian-Muslim dialogue. He finds it especially valuable as a story told by Jesus himself, because it presents the message of Jesus and as a story that can be told, elaborated, dramatised and discussed in ways that are culturally familiar within Middle East contexts.
Kenneth Bailey, in his study of the parables of Jesus, believes that the basic message of Jesus can be summed up as the costly demonstration of unexpected love, God’s yes to all people. Not only does he proclaim his love, but he actually defines and declares his love in action. As Colin Chapman interprets Kenneth Bailey’s writing, this demonstration of God’s unexpected love is costly for him, since in a sense he suffers in the process of forgiving.
Colin says the Parable of the Prodigal Son expresses all these points with special force. The father loves his sons – both the rebellious son who wants to leave home, and the older son who has such a cold and formal relationship with him. He goes on loving them, even when we might expect him to want to punish us and reject us. He demonstrates his love to both of them in ways that would have been considered surprising, if not shocking, in Middle East societies. And in demonstrating his love to them, the father suffers in the process.
Colin has summarised Bailey’s understanding of the significance of the Prodigal Son’s homecoming: ‘On his return, the prodigal is overwhelmed by an expected visible demonstration of love in humiliation. He is shattered by the offer of grace, confesses unworthiness, and accepts restoration to sonship in genuine humility. Sin is now a broken relationship which he cannot restore. Repentance is now understood as acceptance of grace and confession of unworthiness. The community rejoices together. The visible demonstration of love in humiliation is seen to have dear overtones of the atoning work of Christ.’
This parable comes from a culture that is similar to the culture of the Islamic world, Colin argues. The strong emphasis in Islam on the unity of the family and family loyalties and the fact that most of the Muslim world is in Africa and the Middle East should make it easy for Muslims to understand what is happening in the story, he suggests.
But the parable also raises question for Muslims, he points out. What Muslim could imagine a younger son asking for his share of the inheritance while his father is still alive? Should a father not punish his sons when they dishonour the name of the family? Has the elder brother got to swallow his pride and welcome home his younger brother who has disgraced himself?
The second course was a year later, in 1996, in the College of the Ascension in Selly Oak, Birmingham. It was led by the Principal, the Revd Canon Dr Andrew Wingate, in association with USPG.
I was reminded earlier this week how that course in 1996 included Saint Patrick’s Day, and Andrew surprised me by asking me to preach at the Eucharist in his college chapel that Sunday.
CMS moved some of its training to Cowley, Oxford, in 2005 and closed Crowther Hall. The United College of the Ascension closed in 2006. Some of its work, and that of the Department of Mission, continues in the Selly Oak Centre for Mission Studies, based in the Queen’s Foundation, Birmingham, an ecumenical theological foundation close to Birmingham University.
Later, Andrew Wingate was the founding director of Saint Philip’s Centre for Study and Engagement, Leicester, where I was involved in yet another a course in 2012. He is now a consultant and teacher in Inter-Faith Relations, and we meet occasionally at USPG conferences and events.
I drew heavily on Colin Chapman’s work when I produced resources on Christian-Muslim dialogue for CMS and when I was a lecturer in the Church of Ireland Theological Institute. He is now enjoying semi-retirement in Milton, Cambridge, where he sometimes assist at All Saints’ Church. We have met occasionally at Saint Bene’t’s Church, Cambridge, when I have been studying at the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies and staying ay Sidney Sussex College.
I have been a lifelong supporter of USPG, and I sometimes wondered whether some people in USPG saw me as a ‘Prodigal Son’ when I was worked for CMS for four years (2002-2006), or did CMS see me as a ‘Prodigal Son’ when I subsequently joined the boards of USPG in Ireland and became a trustee of USPG?
Today’s Prayers (Saturday 22 March 2025):
The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), has been ‘Truth: The Path to Reconciliation’. This theme was introduced last Sunday with a programme update by Rachel Weller, Communications Officer, USPG.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Saturday 22 March) invites us to pray:
Lord, bless the Anglican Church of Southern Africa as a beacon of hope and reconciliation, empowering them to advocate for justice and embody Christ’s love.
The Collect:
Almighty God,
you show to those who are in error the light of your truth,
that they may return to the way of righteousness:
grant to all those who are admitted
into the fellowship of Christ’s religion,
that they may reject those things
that are contrary to their profession,
and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same;
through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Post Communion Prayer:
Almighty God,
you see that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves:
keep us both outwardly in our bodies,
and inwardly in our souls;
that we may be defended from all aersities
which may happen to the body,
and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect:
Almighty God,
by the prayer and discipline of Lent
may we enter into the mystery of Christ’s sufferings,
and by following in his Way
come to share in his glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Collect on the Eve of Lent III:
Almighty God,
whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain,
and entered not into glory before he was crucified:
mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross,
may find it none other than the way of life and peace;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Yesterday’s Reflection
Continued Tomorrow
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
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