The Conversion of St. Augustine
“And rising up, he came to his father.” With these simple words, Saint Luke (15:20) outlines the Prodigal Son’s plan of action, which must also be ours.
In our desire to leave the crisis, it is not enough to simply isolate ourselves, move away, or search for another frenetic party. We must rise up against the culture that has led us to ruin; we must leave behind and disengage ourselves from the rule of money, both as individuals and as a nation. With humble and contrite hearts, we can then search out the object of our longings.
Our Lord and the Samaritan woman at the well. Painting by Carl Heinrich Bloch.
As to the practical means by which the Prodigal Son rose up and returned to his father’s house, the Gospel is curiously silent. Nor does it seem essential to the narrative. The longings of the son call forth the means just as organic solutions adapt themselves to circumstances. It is enough that this clash be born of a strong rejection and a great love for the adequate means to appear.
John Horvat II, Return to Order: From a Frenzied Economy to an Organic Christian Society—Where We’ve Been, How We Got Here, and Where We Need To Go (York, Penn.: York Press, 2013), 347.
