Has Been Found

Defying the rains and winds, I headed out early this morning to Seton Hall University in South Orange, NJ, to exhibit for my gig at the Archdiocese of Newark's annual Catholic Men's Conference.

It was my first visit to South Orange and Seton Hall.

The event drew about 2,000 men of all ages for sessions in English and Spanish.

The conference closed with a vigil Mass for the Fourth Sunday of Lent or "Laetare Sunday." The Gospel proclaimed at the Mass (one of two options this Sunday) featured the Parable of the Prodigal Son from the Gospel of Luke.

To my mind, this parable contains one of the warmest and most reassuring verses in the entire Bible. When the peeved elder son questions his father's generous welcome to the prodigal, the father replies:

"My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found."

Flashbacks: Fourth Sundays of Lent 2009, 2008, 2008 part deux and 2007.

The image above is "Retour de L'Enfant Prodigue" by Michel Ciry.