Ugh! Ouch!!!
How do you treat a prodigal person? Just by ignoring or forgiving? Which type are you: the prodigal one, the loving father, or the unwelcoming brother?
In my case I am the prodigal one. Here is how everything began.
Years ago when I was still too young, too innocent, too weak , too fearful and too hard-headed I entered the nunnery praying I would become the perfect person I wanted myself to be by becoming a full-pledged servant of God. To my dismay I could not run away from my fears. The matter became worse until I decided to quit bringing along with me a depression I learned to live with for so long. Six years after I returned to the congregation believing I still possessed the charisma of serving God's people. To my gratitude I was warmly welcomed. Due to family problems I went home and never to be heard of again. There was no communication between me and the congregation whatsoever. I was busy with my own personal life, sinned ghastly and recovered a bit.
Barely seven years after, I found from a social network one of the congregation sister's account. I sent a message maintaining in my tone the same closeness we used to have. To my dismay and embarrassment, I did not get any response. Was "being ignored" the right term? I don't want to conclude. I just felt the "oucccch, huhuhu...." Oh, life. I knew the sisters were curious about me because many of them viewed my account. Yet, no one said a word of "hi, hello" aside from the two who were not full-pledged.
What is the message of this then? Am I ignored? Am I banned from communicating with them? I could not also blame them whatever their decisions are. I know I also had my shortcomings. I failed their high expectations of me. Perhaps they were so hurt because they were also answerable to the general superior. Perhaps I did something unforgiving or might had crossed over certain regulations of the congregation. Perhaps. Perhaps. Perhaps.
I only have one thing to advise myself: to go on my chosen way despite the judgment of other people of me. I am a prodigal one because I followed my will, fell, got up, returned to the Loving Father and asked for another chance. This is the good thing with life: I could not just quit. There was once a time that I hoped and willed to quit. But I just could not. I could not help breathing. So I decided to just go on. And now I am happy with my new-found life.
If there is a lesson I love to share with you, it would be: please be open to someone's sincerity with life despite the awful past and the used to be awful attitude. For no strong and loving person would choose to commit mistakes unless that person has not yet grown or learned anything about life.
"I know what's happening in this world-there are liars and cheats,
there's prejudice, violence, greed, sickness-I know what's happening. I'm
not going to let it deter me from living my life, though. Look, I live in this
world, and dammit, I'm going to be cheerful and positive about living in
this world."
Joseph Raymond
