Rival Siblings

I had to write this for a devotional for Lent. I'm also going to post some other stuff I have written during discernment for the Priesthood that is relevant and appropriate. Sorry i have not posted in a while, it's not like anyone actually reads this anyway.


“…Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!” Luke 15:29-30

After working himself to the bone saving the family farm, he sits in the shadows, hurling curses toward the party they are throwing for his ridiculous brother. At the fringes of the celebration, he silently wishes his younger, returned brother would go back to his place in the pig sties.
The Older Brother is our source of lamentation in the story after a pleasant reunion scene and party complete with fatted calf, gold rings and music. What has given rise to the anger and bitterness he feels for his lost brother and his welcoming Father? During this time of joy, reunion and resurrection, all he sees is how unappreciated and undervalued he is in the family. He feels ignored by his Father in spite of his choice to stay home and do the right thing. He believes his righteousness and hard work are trivialized and ignored as a result of the celebration his Father is giving for the returned brother.
How many times have we have separated ourselves from the Family of God as rival siblings? How do we keep ourselves apart from God, our loving Parent, who desperately wants us to join in the celebration of grace set before us? The Kingdom of God remains fractured many times because