In parable of Prodigal Son, God’s mercy is greater than our misery - Pope

(March 15, 2010) Pope Benedict XVI said on Sunday that the parable of the Prodigal Son reveals that God’s mercy and love is greater than man’s misery. Addressing a large crowd gathered in St Peter's Square to pray the weekly midday ‘Angelus’ prayer with him, the Holy Father was reflecting on Sunday’s Gospel reading. He explained that the relationship with God is similar to what happens to every child with their parents. There is a phase that is like childhood: a religion provoked by need, by dependence. Gradually man grows and is emancipated, he wants to free himself from this submission and become a free adult, able to regulate himself and make his own choices independently, to the point of even thinking he can do without God. This delicate phase, he said, can lead to atheism, but this too often hides the need to discover the true face of God. The two sons, the Pope said, represent two immature ways of relating with God: rebellion and hypocrisy. Both of these methods, he explained, are overcome through the experience of the father’s mercy. “Only by experiencing forgiveness, recognizing ourselves as loved with a free love, greater than our misery, but also of our justice, will we finally enter into a truly filial and free relationship with God,” the Pope said.