"I Don't Want YOU!"

I've been out of the swing of blogging for a little while. It used to be weekly, and then I sort of fell out of it. I knew I'd probably start up again eventually, but recently I experienced an insight that gave me goosebumps on my goosebumps and I thought: It's Time. So while you may not see me posting every week on Family Fiat (my old, OLD blog), I will do my best to give voice to some of the insights that amaze me in my life, in hopes that they give you some joy, and maybe even goosebumps, too.

So here goes.

Last weekend, I attended one of my monthly sessions for my Masters in Theology at St. Meinrad in Indiana. Flat tire notwithstanding, the weekend was good for my soul. In my "Creed in History and Theology" course, we happened to be talking about Tradition. Tradition comes from the Latin word tradere which means to hand over, or to trade. It isn't so much a noun as it is a verb, an action.

My mind flashed to Luke 15 and my hand shot up.

"What is the Greek word for inheritance?" I wondered to my professor. "Like in the story of the Forgiving Father/Prodigal Son. When he asks for his inheritance, what is that word?"

"That's interesting," he replied. "It's ousia, and it is the only place that that word is in the Bible. It's interesting because it translates funny. It translates substance in Latin. Like he's asking his father for a share of his substance."

After I got over the amazing fact that my prof immediately knew that answer without even blinking once, I was dumbfounded. "Ousia? Really?"

My professor didn't seem to catch my amazement and continued with his lecture. As quickly and clandestinely as I could, I looked online to see what I could find out about this word and to see if my hunch meant anything.

It turns out ousia does mean substance, it's true. It also means being and essence. I couldn't help myself, and googled the only other word I knew that had the root "ousia" in it.

Parousia.

In Catechesis of the Good Shepherd we live into the History of the Kingdom of God as fully as possible, and so our study of Salvation history introduces this Greek word (and one or two important others) to the children while they are very young. At six years old the child discovers that the Parousia is the time in which "God will be All in All..." (1 Cor 15:28). If you ask a Good Shepherd child, he or she will tell you that Parousia is the time when the lame will leap, the dumb will speak, and there will be no more tears or mourning. One 11 year old child told her catechist she was not afraid of death, and the catechist asked her why. "The Parousia!" she proclaimed. Children make up songs about it, and they draw pictures with the huge golden cross covering the whole world on the covers of their folders. It's a big deal, and we all share a sense of expectant wonder for the word and the reality it stands for.

https://www.cgsusa.org/products/the-history-of-the-kingdom-of-god-part-1-from-creation-to-parousia/

It turns out that the word Parousia has an interesting etymology. Where ousia means essence, parousia means "presence" or "being present." Presence? We know that Jesus uses this parable, which is also very familiar to a CGS catechist, to teach us about His Father's forgiveness. But what exactly is being wasted by this prodigal son? I quickly grabbed my bible out of my bag and read the story of that prodigal again with a new lens. It turns out what the son is really saying is:

"I want your essence, Father, your ousia, but I don't want your presence. I. Don't. Want. YOU."

Immediately my mind recalled another familiar story. Who was the first to act in this manner toward our loving God? Who were the first to grasp at being "like gods", seeking to steal the essence of God, at the expense of His presence?

In the garden after the Fall, God says, "Where are you?" Their union with Him is broken. They are separate by their own choosing.

My mind was racing. I wondered: then what about the older brother?

He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him. 
He said to his father in reply, ‘Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’ (Luke 15:29-30 NABRE).

Is it possible that the prodigal could refer to Adam and Eve? Who then is this older one who complains about the younger son's reconciliation? All in a moment I wondered: is this familiar parable the whole of Salvation History in just a single chapter of St. Luke's Gospel? Who was there first, before Adam, if not the angels? The father says to the older son:

'My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours.  But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found’ (Luke 15:29-32).

In other words: You have parousia! I can only imagine the pain with which Jesus tells this parable of the Father's presence being rejected, by the younger son, then the older. I always wondered why we don't hear what decision the older son made. Perhaps his decision to "stay outside" was already made.

I am sure there is much more to unpack, and I will leave you to your own discovery. (Perhaps you can share your thoughts in the comments?!) It will be another couple of weeks before I head back to Indiana for another weekend, but I am really looking forward to it. I never know what new insights and ideas this kind of study will springboard me off to (further study of the Greek language, perhaps?), but I am happy to share my inheritance with you! God Bless!