A fine robe, a ring and a pair of sandals. These were the things the father gave his repentant son upon returning from wasting his life and what he had. These also represents what God offers us when we open our hearts to his boundless mercy and take seriously the path of conversion.
The robe clothes us with the power of God. Sin weakens us. Sin weakens our will to turn away from it, to choose what is right, what is true, what is good. Sin make us content of living in sin, on the mediocrity of accepting that we can never be out of the clutches of sin. God’s mercy empowers us. His mantle of grace is our strength to burst out from the chains of sin and bad habit in order to choose what is good and right according to the will of God.
The ring celebrates our identity. Sin blinds us. Sin makes our vision selective and limited. We only see ourselves, what we want, what gives us pleasure, comfort, convenience, gratification. We forget who we really are in the eyes of God. The ring reminds us who we really are before God – that we are sons and daughters of God. We are not slaves of sin, nor legions of evil. We do not walk in darkness. Rather, we are children of the light. We are God’s beloved children.
The sandals bring back direction. Sin makes us loose our way. It leads us astray. By putting on sandals, God returns us to the right direction and guide us on the way the leads to him.
These are what awaits us in the bosom of the Father - to be robed with God’s power, ringed with our divine childhood and sandaled with direction on the right path.
The Father waits… ready to run with a forgiving embrace and an accepting kiss. Come!
