For the second time this year, we read about the prodigal son. The first was during Lent, and I wrote about God’s forgiveness and mercy. That theme is still relevant; the first reading describes God’s mercy towards the Israelites following their sinful behavior, and there is the mercy shown by the loving father towards his returning son. However, taking all three of Jesus’ parables in today’s Gospel reading into account, I think the appropriate message for today’s readings is joy at God’s forgiveness. Jesus uses all three parables to describe the profound joy in heaven at the repentance of one sinner… the rejoicing at finding the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. Furthermore, the first two parables point out that God is actively seeking those who are lost; He’s not just sitting and waiting for them to come to their senses, but He’s actively seeking those who have strayed…and that means all of us! God is actively seeking to help each of us love Him more and follow Him better, and that should bring joy to all of us. There is a flip side to this, though, that we need to be wary of. How often do we judge by our standards, rather than God’s? How often do we seek retribution for those who have sinned, either actively or in our minds? In other words, how often do we behave as the older son in the third parable, rather than joining in God’s joy? If we are joyful when we receive God’s mercy and grace, then we should be equally joyful when we see God be merciful with another; we should share in God’s joy and in theirs.