The homily of the priest on today's Gospel (Lk 15,1-3;11-32) touched on Rembrandt's painting again. But there was something new: he told us to look at the painting closely and see how the "converted" son is intimately drawn to the father's "womb." The comment is a reinforcement of the "mother-father" figure portrayed in the hands (see my post last March 10).Biblically, the "mercy" of God is associated more to the "womb," hence to the more maternal, feminine figure. "God is indeed father, but also mother!" says John Paul I. Personally, I feel that our Christian spirituality needs a lot of balancing in these dimensions. Our image of God as paternal provider, protector, just "judge" is good. But he repeatedly makes us understand too that (s)he is nourisher, nurse, healer - figures we normally associate with womenly qualities.
May the Lord bless us all with his mercy; may we be imbued with his patient, forgiving and passionate love as we start a new week with Him.
