Pharisees were grumbling loudly;

“Jesus, you should be ashamed!

You should never welcome sinners!

Rabbis don’t do this.” they claimed.

So he turned to them and answered

With a story full of truths;

Telling them about a family

And behaviour of two youths.

Once, two sons lived with their father;

One, the younger, came and said,

“Give me what I will inherit.

I can’t wait until you’re dead.”

So the father full of anguish,

Quite dismayed, gave his consent.

Then the son cashed in his assets;

Packed his bag and off he went.

In a distant land he squandered

All his money recklessly.

Now, a beggar in a pig sty,

Thought he suffered needlessly.

In his squalor he decided

To return from whence he came;

Say he’d sinned against his father;

Bear the guilt and all the shame.

But his father, when he saw him,

Joy, compassion filled his soul.

He ran out, embraced and kissed him;

Lost all poise and self-control.

“Father, I have sinned against you;

Have no right to be your son.”

But his father would not listen;

Told his slaves what should be done.

“Quickly! Bring a robe, my best one,

For his finger, find a ring.

Bring the fatted calf and kill it.

We must celebrate and sing!

For this son of mine was dying;

In his folly, he was bound.

He is back to life and with us.

He was lost but now is found.”

Now the elder son was working

On his father’s farm that day.

Coming home, he heard the music,

“What has happened here today?”

Servants said their master ordered

That the fatted calf be killed;

Thankful for his son’s home-coming;

All his dreams had been fulfilled.

Wildly angry with his father,

He refused to go inside.

So his father came out, pleading -

For a Jew – undignified!

“I have slaved for you with rigour;

Never disobeyed your law.

Yet I’ve never been rewarded.

You accept what I deplore!”

“My beloved Son” he answered,

“You are always here with me.

Everything I own is yours now.”

He entreated lovingly.

“We should surely be rejoicing;

Let our happiness abound.

Your dead brother is alive now!

He was lost but now is found.”

​

George Stuart