Joke: The most unhappy character: The pastor told the story of "The Prodigal Son" to a first-grade class. To check on their understanding, he asked; "Who was the unhappy character in the story when the prodigal son returned?" An eager boy raised his hand and stated the simple truth, “The Fatted Calf".

In the book One Minute Wisdom by Anthony de Mello, S.J., he shared a short conversation between a student and the master with the title “Unconsciousness”. A student asks, “Where can I find God?” “He is right in front of you.” “Then why do I fail to see him?” The master responds by asking him, “Why does the drunkard fail to see his home?” Later, the master said, “Find out what it is that makes you drunk. To see you must be sober.” To recognize the Lord, perhaps, we need to be sober from all the attractions that this world offers us. How do we stay sober from all the attractions of this world? To answer this question, let us dive into today’s Gospel, particularly the story of the prodigal son which was beautifully reported in writing by Saint Luke.

In the story of the prodigal son, there is not only one son that the father has, but two sons, one of them is the prodigal son. Recall with me from the Scripture, the younger son was a reckless, bad, and worst son the father had. He asked for his inheritance when his father was still healthy and not near death. After he had his inheritance, he left his father and spent his inheritance with prostitutes, drinking, and everything else. After spending all, he became broken. He came back to his father, and his generous father welcomed him back. He even celebrated with a fatted calf to welcome him back. This younger son was so attracted to all the attractions of this world that he foolishly lived his life. The good thing about this younger son was he recognized his wrongdoings and came back to reconcile with his father, and he was welcomed back.

The older son, on the other hand, was with his father all the time. He was no better than the younger son. He was so attracted to all the attractions of the world as well, and above all, he was envious of his younger brother and failed to see his loving and generous father. He complained to his father saying, “Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns,
who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.” This son never saw his father as the father but as his boss. Just like his younger brother, he was more interested in the attractions of this world than seeing that he had a loving and generous father.

In the story of these two sons, the two words in English that are worth understanding, having and being. Both are the two infinitive verbs, to have and to be. To have means to possess or to own; while to be referred to as quality, achievement, and characteristic. What is the difference between having filled and being filled? Perhaps, the older son was filled with all that his father had, but he failed to recognize his father’s love and generosity. He always had what his father had, but he failed to see his father’s love and generosity. The younger son was filled at his recognition of his father's love and generosity. The state of being filled describes the present moment of being filled with the love and the generosity of the father that at one point, he lost; and now, he found it.

The Israelites reported in today’s first reading, taken from the book of Exodus, was having filled with grace and blessing to be free from slavery, they failed to recognize that and began to make a molten calf and worshipped it that the Lord in his anger said to Moses, “Go down at once to your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, for they have become depraved.” They have been filled with depravement or corruption. Having been filled with corruption, the Israelites lost sight of God and worshipped the false god, a molten calf.

Have you and I ever having filled with God in our lives or been filled with God in our lives? What is the difference between having filled with God and being filled with God? Having filled with God, the devil might sneak into our lives and tempt us saying, “You are Christian. You believe in him. He dies for your sins. You are safe. So, just sin, and you are still fine.” Just as the older son said to his father, “All these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends,” we might say to God, “I’m a Christian all my life. I go to Mass every weekend, yet you never make me rich or better than those who are not even Christian.” We fail to be in the state of being filled rather than having filled. The fact that the air that we breathe every moment of our lives we are filled with God who holds us into existence.

A student once asked his master, “How do I know that I’m filled with God in my life?” The master replied by pouring tea into a cup on the table. The cup was filled with tea, but he continued to pour it into the cup that overflew the cup and spilled on the table and the floor. To it, the student couldn’t hold himself and said, “Stop! It’s overflown.” To him, the master said, “to be filled with God. You must first empty your mind.” When we are filled with all kinds of attractions of this world, we cannot be filled with God. Have you had filled with God or been filled with God? How would we be filled with God? The decision is yours.