We Are All Prodigal Sons and Daughters, by Regis Martin

By Regis Martin, Crisis Magazine, April 12, 2025

Regis Martin is Professor of Theology and Faculty Associate with the Veritas Center for Ethics in Public Life at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. He earned a licentiate and a doctorate in sacred theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. 

God so loved the world, He sent His only begotten Son to save us from the hellish emptiness of our fallen and barren self-love.

How do we know God loves us? Is there any evidence in the Scriptures telling us that He does? Is there an image perhaps to which we can easily point to prove that we are loved by God in the most intimate and unmistakable way? There are actually a whole busload of examples, of which the following may be the most profound and compelling of all. It is certainly the most recent, appearing just the other day in one of the Lenten readings taken from the prophet Isaiah (49:6-15).

What is most arresting about the image is that it reveals a God speaking to Israel as though He were addressing a young child, frightened and alone in a world too menacing to face. He wants to allay the child’s fear of abandonment, of that sudden desolating state in which the child sees no hope of escape, no prospect of rescue or relief. …

Continue reading >>>>>>>>>>>