Calling the Sinner

The Return of the Prodigal Son, 1667/1670 by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo


Words of St. Alphonsus de Liquori:

"Consider the mercy of God in calling the sinner to repentance. When Adam rebelled against the Lord, and hid himself from His face, behold, God, having lost Adam, goes in search of him, and calls him as it were with tears. 'Adam, where art thou?' (Gen 3:9)

These words are the words of a father seeking a lost son. My brother, God has often done the same for you. You fled from God and He sought after you, calling you at one time by His inspiration, at another by remorse of conscience, now by sermons, again by tribulations, and by the death of your friends. Speaking of you, Jesus appears to say, 'I have laboured with crying; My jaws have become hoarse.' (Ps 68:4)

My son, He has almost lost His voice in calling you to repentance."

From Preparation for Death, by St. Alphonsus de Liquori