Catholic Ragemonkey

A further comment about the Prodigal Son, only a week late

I was on the phone with another priest of my diocese who will be permitted to live if my regime comes to power. He made an interesting observation about the prodigal son parable that I had never noticed.

Notice that each major character is associated with an animal. The prodigal son is associated with the swine. Why this would be is no big surprise. Swine are considered unclean and what better way to suggest the young man's denigration than to associate him with this unclean animal. The father is associated with the fattened calf. In temple worship, the fattened calf was used in communion sacrifices, sacrifices in which part of the sacrifice, the fat and other innards, went back to God, another part went to the priest as his inheritance, and the remaining was shared as the sign of the unity of the offerer to God. The elder son is associated with the goat. The goat, I think, was used only for one sacrifice, the scapegoat.

Now follow me on this one...The prodigal son is mired in sin represented by the swine. The father restores the boy to full sonship as represented by the communion sacrifice of a fattened calf. The elder son wants to pass judgment and misses his own role and place in the father's house. He has only one place, associated with the goat. He will either join the celebration or he will be sent into the darkness. The scapegoat is selected from between two goats one to three years old. The scapegoat bears all the sins of the people and is driven out into the darkness. The other goat is used in sacrifice.

The offer is clear then. The scribes and Pharisees are like this elder son. They can enter into their Father's joy and welcome sinners who are reconciled to God through Christ. Or they can go out into the darkness, back to Azazeal.

I am not proposing this as Gospel truth. It still needs a little research. I'll keep you posted on my efforts.