What is the meaning of the parable of the prodigal son?

The parable of the prodigal son can be summarized as follows: A certain man had two sons. The younger of them asked his father to give him his inheritance which he later wasted through riotous living during his stay in a distant country. He soon became poor and had to work as a caretaker of pigs! After much suffering and nearly perishing with hunger, he came to his senses and decided to go back to his father who subsequently accepted the son back amid great rejoicing!

This Parable like all the other Parables of Jesus the Son of God must be understood not in the earthly but in the spiritual sense.

The prodigal son in this parable represents mankind. Man has his origin in Paradise the Spiritual Realm where he starts as a spirit seed. Paradise is symbolized by the father’s house in the parable. The young man’s journey to a distant country in the parable can be likened to the journey of man as spirit seed from Paradise to the earthly school where he is meant to mature and subsequently go back home to Paradise as a fully matured human spirit.

However, for most spirit seeds the time granted for this necessary schooling is frittered away in vanity, immorality and running after earthly things like the riotous living of the prodigal son. The result of such a way of life is unhappiness, lack of fulfillment and lack of contentment just like the poverty and hunger suffered by the prodigal son in the parable.

It was only after his repentance that the prodigal son’s journey back to his father’s house began. The lesson here is obvious. The parable shows that contrary to the erroneous belief that the guilt of men can be heaped upon the Son of God; the only way mercifully provided by God’s Love for man to obtain the forgiveness of his sins is repentance.

The way of repentance and continuous obedience leads back to the Kingdom of Heaven from where we came to the earth. This time however, we will through the experiences gained on our way, go back fully matured to participate in the joyful activity of other blessed human spirits who already live in Paradise.

Therefore, one of the admonitions in the Grail Message is that we should strive for the ability to enter the Spiritual Realm so that there will be joy over us as already indicated in the parable about the prodigal son!