Why did the father and the brother have such different reactions to the return of the Prodigal Son? When the father talked to the elder child he said, “Your brother was dead and has come to life again.” The father had mourned the loss of the younger son. He felt his absence on a deeply personal level. The older brother simply looked on the Prodigal’s going as an inconvenience, as something which doubled his work load. What about our current situation in the Church? How does the fact that there are now as many people who call themselves ex-Catholics as there are people who call themselves Catholics impact us? To welcome them back properly requires that we first mourn their leaving their spiritual home.
