Entitlement
Gospel: Lk 15:1-3, 11-32
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030224.cfm
Gifts are different than entitlements because with entitlements there is a sense from the receiver that they are owed. In today’s gospel, we learn of two sons, both of whom had a sense of entitlement when it came to their father’s gifts. They each thought that they were more deserving. The first son wanted his inheritance now. He thought that he was deserving enough to receive it before its allotted time. He was so deserving that he abandoned the giver. The other son felt entitled to more because he was unlike his brother and did not squander his father’s inheritance. He was more deserving because he stayed with his father. He deserved more because he was right.
It is easy to fall into a sense of entitlement. We can look at what others have and feel that we deserve the same. Even when we have what we need, we can get frustrated that someone else has more. We can get angry that someone else should have less because they are less deserving than us.
Now, there are societal sins that can lead to these things, and we must always fight against all forms of discrimination. The fallacy comes when we see or think we are more deserving or others are more deserving. We can also be guilty of supporting systems of oppression that keep groups of people subordinate to others. These are ways that we overlook that we are all equal in the eyes of God and that we are all created in the image of God.
In today’s gospel, we could think that there isn’t equality with God as the first son received more. It’s not fair because the second son earned more from their father for he was loyal and did what was expected of him. This gospel pushes us to think differently. There is equality with God, but it may not easily be seen in our limited view of material things.
God’s equality is in love for each of us. God doesn’t love any of us more or any of us less than anyone else. God doesn’t measure by material things as material things are to be freely given and shared. With God there is equality, and we must strive to make a world with the same. We are called to share and be in communion. Amen.
