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Is Your Name Paco?
In Spain, a father and his teenage son were at odds. The relationship became so strained that the son ran away from home. His father, though, began a cross-country journey in search of his rebellious son. Finally, in Madrid, in a last desperate attempt to find him, his father put an ad in the newspaper:
Dear Paco, meet me in front of the newspaper office at noon. All is forgiven. I love you. Your Father.
The next day at noon in front of the newspaper office eight hundred boys named Paco showed up. They were all seeking forgiveness and love from their fathers.
Is your name Paco? Often you and I have been rebellious children in relation to our heavenly Father. But our rebellion does not stop our Father from loving us and wanting to forgive us. For Jesus’ sake the Father can say to us: “All is forgiven. I love you.”
These are words of love that we hear in the Absolution. This is the forgiveness given as a free gift in the Sacraments. This is the declaration of God’s grace that comes to us through the Word of God – whether it be preached, read or taught.
Is your name Paco? We will meet each Sunday not in front of the newspaper office – but in the Church. And as we gather we are loved, forgiven, and blessed in the Divine Service.
And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'
But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to celebrate.
Luke 15:21-24
In Christ’s service,
Pastor Jabs
