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11 The Parable of the Lost (or Prodigal) Son.[a] Then he said: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of your estate that I will inherit.’ And so the father divided the property between them.

13 “A few days later the younger son gathered together everything he had and traveled to a distant country, where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissolute living.

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Footnotes

  1. Luke 15:11 The parable of the prodigal son, one of the most enchanting stories of Jesus, completes the two preceding parables. It is God who awaits sinners, and it is humanity that is encouraged to seek God. We recognize in it all the misery of sin: abandonment, solitude, and distress. The parable describes the path to conversion and finally the great certitude of the believer: beyond all human hope, God harbors for every person the unfailing affection of a father for his child. He awaits the child and welcomes it joyously. It is easy to see in the discontent of the elder son the anger of the Pharisees at the welcome Jesus gives to sinners.