One of the most interesting incidents in
the Bible is portrayed here in a most imaginative way. This book will keep one wondering just who is the Prodigal. Is it the father who gave away his treasures because his younger son asked for this, and stayed at home lonely for the return of that son? Did he watch from the nearby hillside every day, hoping to catch sight of his wandering son? Did he see the son and order a big banquet with the fatted calf? Did he try to convince his older son, who did not wander, that he should join in
the party, all to no avail? What was the father’s next step? The Bible does not tell the next step, but Brian Pierce creates a step and offers a new Father. Read on and see who the Prodigal Father is.
Pope Francis, not unlike Brian, sees mercy as the heart of the Gospel. The imaginative author sees mercy every-where in the Scripture, beginning with the Incarnation when the Only Son became Man to save mankind. Brian fills this book with interesting stories of the self-sacrifice of Jesus; ministry to the poor shows the true meaning of discipleship.
Jesus is the true model of self-sacrifice.
Albert
Nolan notices Brian’s scandalous reality of the many ways Jesus identifies with the lost, with sinners, and especially with the Prodigal Son. He, along with other writers, points to the Church which is called to become Compassion for the world and to those on the margins.
In the introduction, Brian Pierce points to the human story of creation when God prepares the wet clay in order to mold and fashion the first human being with gentleness and love. “This is our story. We are the clay that has been softened by the flowing
stream, fired with the Spirit and enlivened with the breath of God.” Meister Eckhart describes creation this way: “All creation flows forth from the superfluity of God’s goodness.” Robert Barron sees the entire universe as a kind of image of God.
Hans Urs von Balthasar digs deeper and says that “the Father goes out from Himself in the Son and returns in the Spirit, allowing for the playfulness and theatricality of LOVE.” Readers will begin to see , according to Brian Pierce, that God is the Prodigal
Father, and Jesus the Son is the Prodigal One who is willing to give His life for all humankind. God the Father welcomes the Son back in love after Jesus died for humankind. A new Prodigal Son! A new Prodigal Father! Save!
