WK-4 LOOKING FOR SIGNS OF HOPE DURING THIS LENTEN SEASON

Fr. Charles "Chuck" Wood

"A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father, ‘Father give me the share of your estate that should come to me" (Lk. 15:1-3, 11-32)

Since Lent started, my brother-in-law, Michael Howard, has been connecting the Sunday Mass readings and Pope Francis’ document announcing the 2025 Jubilee Year. That announcement sometimes goes by its opening words in Latin, Spes non Confundit (in English, “Hope does not disappoint”), a partial quote of Rom 5:5. Continuing Michael’s theme for this time of Easter preparation, let’s keep “Looking for Signs of Hope during This Lenten Season.”  

“Pilgrims of Hope” is the Jubilee Year theme. What fresh look at hope can we get from the Gospel for the Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year C, Jesus’ Prodigal Son Parable (Lk 15:1-3, 11-32)? Could this parable deepen our identity as pilgrims of hope? Can the Pope’s words help us become signs for others who are looking for signs of hope?

In Articles 7-15 of his Jubilee announcement, Pope Francis brings out many worldwide concerns and kinds of people that are “signs of the times which . . . ought to become signs of hope” (Article 7). At least two of them—the young (Article 12), literally, and prisoners (Article 10), poetically—are also in the Prodigal Son story.

First, “the young.” The young man we know as the prodigal son in the 2000-year-old parable named after him is a prophecy of many 21st-century youth around the world, as Pope Francis soberly portrays them. They “often see their dreams and aspirations frustrated,” he writes. “Escaping into drugs, risk-taking and the pursuit of momentary pleasure,” the pope continues, “can lead to depression and even self-destructive actions” (Article 12).

Does that describe any people in your world who are under 30 (give or take) and younger than you? Think and pray about what you might do before Lent is over to be a “sign of hope” to them.

Take as an example the prodigal’s father. Jesus’ portrait of him—running passionately to welcome back his son, embracing and restoring him—finds a reflection in what Pope Francis urges us to do in Article 12: “With renewed passion, let us demonstrate care and concern for adolescents, students and young couples, the rising generation. Let us draw close to the young, for they are the joy and hope of the Church and of the world!”

Second, “prisoners.” Pope Francis writes about actual prisoners. His thoughts and proposals are worth serious consideration. But I want to take “prisoners” as an emotional and relational figure of speech. For instance, picture those who feels like other people’s expectations—or their own—are confining them for whatever reason. They’re like the older brother in our parable, feeling stuck in family obligations and not knowing his father loved and appreciated him.

Or, imagine people who’ve really repented of wrongs they’ve done or really do regret distancing themselves from family. What happens if they want to patch things up and make amends? Do they face prison walls of refusal by others to believe they have changed or at least have started changing? Do locked doors of resentments by others keep them in solitary? The prodigal could have felt these emotions because of his brother.

The prison reform of the above poetic incarcerations could come from the signs of hope for literal prisoners that Pope Francis lists in Article 10 of Spes non Confundit. For instance, he asks for “acts of … liberation that enable new beginnings.” He criticizes “lack of respect for their persons” as well as whatever “eliminates all hope for forgiveness and rehabilitation.”

Can you be a sign of hope for forgiveness and for new beginnings in strained or broken relationships in your family, parish, workplace, school or circle(s) of friends? (This isn’t about toxic or abusive relationships that wouldn’t be safe or wise to get back into.)

Think prayerfully about acting as a reconciler and/or encourager in specific situations during what’s left of Lent. As “brochures” for this mental pilgrimage through all your relations, read the Prodigal Son parable and Articles 7, 10, and 12 of the Pope’s Jubilee announcement. Any people come to mind? Those thoughts could mean that God does appoint you to show those people that “Hope does not disappoint.”   

Author: Pastor, Fr. Charles “Chuck” Wood, St Elizabeth of Hungary, St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church – A friendly, Christ-centered parish in the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon (stelizabethportland.net) Member of the African American Catholic community of Oregon, outreach organization.   

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