Likewise, through vainglory: Isaiah three: "O my people, those who call you blessed, they themselves deceive you and scatter the way of your steps." Likewise, through envy, according to that word of the Psalm: "Our bones are scattered beside hell," supply: through envy, of which it is said in Proverbs fourteen: "Envy is the rottenness of the bones."
Likewise, through wrath: the Psalm: "They were scattered and felt no remorse; they gnashed upon me with their teeth." Whence the wrathful person is like one possessed by a demon, of whom above in chapter nine: "He suddenly cries out and dashes him down and scatters him with foaming."
Likewise, he squandered through sloth, according to that word of Proverbs eighteen: "He who is soft and lax in his work is the brother of him who squanders his own works." — And because spiritual sins frequently plunge one into carnal sins, therefore he adds: Living dissolutely, with respect to gluttony and lust, according to that word of Proverbs twenty: "Wine is a luxurious thing, and drunkenness is riotous: whoever delights in these will not be wise." Whence in these is the consummation of squandering, according to that word of Job thirty-one: "It is a fire devouring unto destruction and uprooting all increase." Whence by these sins not only are the powers of the soul squandered, but also the members of the body and temporal riches, and through this the whole substance of a person is squandered, namely of possessions, members, and morals. On account of which, Proverbs twenty-nine: "A man who loves wisdom gladdens his father; but he who nourishes harlots will lose his substance," because in such things is fulfilled that word of the Psalm: "Man, when he was in honor, did not understand," etc.
26. (Verse 14.). And after he had consumed all things, etc. After describing the insolence of the prodigal son, here he describes his misery and want, and this with respect to three things, namely with respect to the hardship of famine, with respect to the disgrace of servitude, and with respect to the most extreme kind of beggary.
First, therefore, with respect to the hardship of famine, he says: And after he had consumed all things, namely with fault devastating everything, according to that word of Wisdom three: "Dire are the consummations of a wicked nation"; concerning which consummation, James one: "Concupiscence, when it has conceived, brings forth sin; but sin, when it has been consummated, begets death."
There arose a great famine in that region, namely by divine justice taking vengeance. This famine is the want of spiritual goods; whence the Gloss: " A great famine in a far country is the want of the word of truth in forgetfulness of the Creator." And concerning this famine, Amos 8: "I will send a famine upon the land; not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the word of God"; and concerning this in the Psalm: "He called a famine upon the land," etc. And he himself began to be in want, with no one namely helping: whence Ambrose: "Of virtues, their source having been abandoned. Rightly therefore is he in want who has abandoned the treasures of wisdom and the height of heavenly riches"; whence Proverbs 13: "Poverty and shame shall be to him who forsakes instruction"; and this on account of fault: because, Proverbs 14, "sin makes peoples miserable." On account of which Bede says: "Every place, when the Father is absent, is destitution."
For just as, when wisdom comes, all the goods of wisdom come, Wisdom 7: "All good things came to me together with her, and innumerable riches through her hands"; so when she departs, all good things withdraw, and want comes upon one, according to that of Proverbs 3: "Want from the Lord is in the house of the wicked, but the dwellings of the just shall be blessed."
27. (Verse 15). Secondly, as to the reproach of servitude, he adds: And he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that region: now a citizen in the region of unlikeness and of sin is one who has established his permanent dwelling in sin. Among these citizens, the one and first is the devil himself; whence the Gloss: "That one of the citizens is he who, set over earthly lusts by the merit of his depravity, is called the prince of the world, " according to that of John 14: "For the prince of this world comes," etc. One joins himself to this citizen when he wills to do his will in all things; which sinners do, as is indicated in 2 Maccabees 4 concerning certain ones, of whom it is said that "they desired to be like those whom they had as enemies and destroyers."
And note that it says he joined himself, because the devil does not have power except insofar as the sinner gives it to him of his own free will: whence in the person of the devil it is said in Isaiah 51: "Bow down, that we may pass over."
And because, having received power, the devil always incites man to sins, therefore he adds: And he sent him into his country estate, to feed swine. By swine are understood demons, on account of their coarseness, by reason of which, Matthew seven: "Do not give what is holy to dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet." Likewise, on account of their carnality: Second Peter two: "It has happened to them according to the true proverb: The sow that was washed returns to wallowing in the mire"; and carnality does this, whence Proverbs eleven: "A golden ring in the snout of a swine, a beautiful and foolish woman," because the devil through her defiles many. Now this coarseness demons have in themselves, but carnality they suggest to others; on account of which they are also called unclean spirits: whence they are rightly akin to swine, according to that passage in Matthew eight: "If you cast us out, send us into the swine." For these swine are fed on the filth of sins, because in this alone do demons take delight; whence Ambrose says: "The food of demons is drunkenness, fornication, and things of this sort, which are alluring and incite to their own enjoyment, nor is there any other care for the dissolute than to fill their belly: whose God is their belly." Concerning these, Philippians three: "Whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things." Whence these swine are fed by swinish men, in whom reigns coarseness of understanding, carnality of concupiscence, cupidity of avarice. And such men, after the manner of swine, avail for nothing whatsoever unto life, but only unto destruction: in designation of which it is said above in chapter eight, that "with a great rush the herd went into the lake and was drowned," etc.
28. (Vers. 16.). Third, however, as regards the extreme kind of beggary, he adds: And he desired to fill his belly with the husks that the swine were eating. " The husk, as the Gloss says, is a kind of legume with noisy and empty pods, which burdens the belly more than it refreshes it." And therefore it designates the pleasures of vices, which sometimes seem to the sinner to sound like something outwardly, but inwardly are nothing; whence pleasures of this kind are compared to dreams: Isaiah twenty-nine, "As when a hungry man dreams and eats, but when he has awakened, his soul is empty; and as when a thirsty man dreams and drinks, and after he has awakened, he is still weary and thirsts, and his soul is empty: so shall be the multitude of all the nations that have fought against Mount Zion." The swine eat these husks, because, Proverbs two, "they rejoice when they have done evil and exult in the worst things." And with these pleasures, as though they were his delights, the sinner seeks and desires to be satisfied; whence concerning such persons, Job thirty: "Who gnawed in the wilderness, squalid with calamity and misery. And they chewed herbs and the bark of trees, and the root of junipers was their food." "Who rejoiced among such things and counted it a delight to be under thorns." — And because man cannot be satisfied with such things, therefore he adds: And no one gave to him; because frequently, when a sinner seeks pleasures of this kind, by the just judgment of God he loses them. Whence Hosea two, the sinful soul says: "I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my waters and my wool and my linen and my oil and my drink. Therefore behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns and wall it up with a barrier, and she shall not find her paths"; and after: "I will cause all her joy to cease, and her new moons, and her Sabbaths, and all her feasts." And God does this so that sinners turned away from Him through pleasures He may call back to Himself through afflictions. Whence Augustine in the book of the Confessions: "All my pleasures," he says, "You sprinkled with bitternesses, O Lord God, so that I might seek to rejoice without offense and might not find it except in You." No one therefore gives of these husks when carnal consolation is withdrawn from the sinner, so that thus at least he may return to the knowledge of God and of himself; and just as he was intoxicated through pleasure, so he may awaken through tribulation, according to that saying of Isaiah twenty-eight: "Only vexation shall give understanding to the hearing"; whence also Leviticus twenty-six: "I will send pestilence in the midst of you, and you shall be delivered into the hands of enemies." "And you shall eat and not be satisfied."
29. (Vers. 17.). But he, coming to himself. After having described the prodigal son's insolence and misery, he describes here thirdly his repentance, which he describes as fully sufficient, namely as regards the humility of contrition, confession, and satisfaction.
First, therefore, as regards the humility of contrition, he says: But he, coming to himself, namely through the recognition of his own iniquity, because the pain of compunction causes one to examine the internal conscience; on account of which he says: Coming to himself, according to that passage of Isaiah forty-six: "Return, transgressors, to the heart."
The pain of compunction also causes one to consider the happiness that has been lost; on account of which he adds: He said: How many hired servants in my father's house abound in bread! That is, in the house of God they live happily and pleasantly. And note that some are evil hired servants, of whom John ten says: "But the hired servant flees, because he is a hired servant." These, even if they sometimes abound in the house of the supreme Father in material bread, yet not in spiritual bread; on account of which Matthew six says: "Amen I say to you: They have received their reward." And to such it is said in Isaiah fifty-five: "Why do you weigh out silver not for bread," etc. Others are good hired servants, of whom the penultimate chapter of Genesis says: "Issachar, a strong ass, saw that rest was good and that the land was excellent, and he bowed his shoulders." And these are they who serve for an eternal reward, and such frequently abound in the bread of faith, hope, and charity, of which above in the eleventh chapter: "Friend, lend me three loaves"; and of which in the Psalm: "I will satisfy his poor with bread."
Compunction likewise causes one to behold one's own calamity; whence he adds: But I here am perishing with hunger, namely on account of the lack of divine grace and doctrine; and this is a great calamity: Lamentations four: "Better were those slain by the sword than those killed by hunger, for these wasted away, consumed by the barrenness of the land"; and on behalf of these it is said in Lamentations two: "Lift up your hands for the souls of your little ones, who have fainted from hunger at the head of every street." From this affliction of compunction, however, the spirit is provoked and aroused; on account of which in the Psalm: "I am afflicted and humbled exceedingly; I roared from the groaning of my heart"; and there follows: "For I am ready for scourges."
30. (Verse 18). Secondly, as regards the humility of confession, he adds: I will arise and go to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven, in which he confesses that he has sinned against ecclesiastical unity, which is understood by the name of heaven. For in this God dwells; the last chapter of Isaiah: "Heaven is my throne"; and in the Psalm: "The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven." — He also confesses that he has sinned against the divine majesty; whence he adds: And before you, because all things are open to him: Hebrews four: "All things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom we have to do." On account of which it is said in Proverbs sixteen: "All the ways of men are open to his eyes, and the Lord is the weigher of spirits."
31. (Vers. 19.). And because an offense against such great majesty deprives us of the dignity of divine filiation, he therefore confesses his own unworthiness, when he adds: Now I am not worthy to be called your son: and this indeed he confesses rightly and truly, because to be a son of God belongs to the greatest charity, according to that passage in 1 John 3: "See, brethren, what manner of charity the Father has given us, that we should be called and should be sons of God." Of this name the sinner is unworthy, because he despised his Father, according to that passage in Isaiah 1: "I have nourished and exalted sons, but they themselves have despised me."
And since it belongs to true confession not only to confess the impiety of sin and the unworthiness of the sinner, but also to implore mercy: he therefore adds: Make me as one of your hired servants.
And note that here a distinction is made between son and servant and hired servant: because a son is one who serves out of love: Galatians 4: "Because you are sons of God, God has sent the spirit of his Son" etc.; a servant, who serves out of fear: Malachi 1: "A son honors his father, but a servant shall fear his lord"; but a hired servant is one who serves out of hope of the eternal inheritance, concerning which hired servant Job 7 says: "The life of man upon earth is a warfare, and his days are like the days of a hired servant. As a servant longs for the shade, and as a hired servant awaits the end of his work, so too have I numbered for myself empty months and laborious nights."
From these things therefore it is gathered that confession ought to be true and humble, so that the gravity of sin may be recognized, the unworthiness of the sinner, and the mercy of the loving father may be implored, namely with a humble disposition, because it is said in Sirach 35: "The prayer of him who humbles himself shall penetrate the clouds." An example of this is found below in chapter 18 concerning the publican.
32. (Vers. 20.). Third, with respect to the humility of satisfaction, he adds: And rising up he came to his father. By this rising is understood the abandonment of sin and a certain distancing from it, which is the beginning of satisfaction. For "to make satisfaction is to cut off the causes of sins and not to grant them an entrance for sinning"; whence also as a figure of this, to the young man still dead it was said above in chapter 7: "Young man, I say to you, arise," so that guilt might be abandoned. Similarly to the man crippled it was said in John 5: "Arise, take up your bed and walk," so that the consequences of sins might be left behind. Similarly to Peter shackled it was said in Acts 12: "Arise quickly," so that the occasion of sin or evil company and habit might be left behind. On account of which it is said to the sinner in Ephesians 5: "Arise, you who sleep, and rise from the dead" etc.
And because "it is too little not to do evil unless one also strives to labor in good works," there is immediately added: He came to his father, through imitation of him; John 14: "No one comes to the Father except through me." He came, I say, so that he who had previously departed through proud transgression might now come to the father through humble satisfaction, according to that passage of Isaiah 60: "All who disparaged you shall come to you and shall worship the traces of your feet," etc. Everyone who thus comes is by God drawn: John 6: "No one comes to me unless my Father has drawn him"; and the one so drawn is aided; Job 23: "Who will grant me that I may know and find him and come even to his throne?"; and the one so aided is received: John 6: "Him who comes to me, I will not cast out."
33. But when he was yet a long way off. After having described the insolence, misery, and penitence, here in the fourth place is described the mercy of the loving father . This part is divided into two. In the first of which is described the mercy of the loving father in accepting the conversion of the sinner: second, in placating the indignation of the obedient one, at the passage : But his elder son was etc.
The mercy, moreover, accepting the conversion of the prodigal son, the Evangelist manifests with respect to a threefold act, namely first, in receiving the unworthy one; second, in clothing the naked one, at the passage: But the father said to his servants: third, in refreshing the famished one, at the passage: And bring the fatted calf. For this is the order of the restoration of the soul through the gift of paternal mercy: that first it is received into the benignity of grace; second, it is clothed with the garment of justice; third, it is refreshed with the sweetness of joy and interior gladness. Concerning the mercy, therefore, receiving the unworthy one, two things are introduced, namely the clemency of the father receiving and the reverence of the son accusing himself.
34. First, therefore, with respect to the clemency of the father receiving, he says: But when he was yet a long way off, on account of the fault that distances one from God: the Psalm: "Far from my salvation are the words of my offenses"; and again: "Salvation is far from sinners, because they have not kept your justifications."