I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 18. How merciful is the Almighty, who, though so much offended, still does not disdain the name of father.—I have sinned. These are the first words of a sinner’s confession to the author of nature. God knows all things; still does he expect to hear the voice of your confession. It is in vain to think of concealing your sins from the eyes of him whom nothing can escape; and there can be no danger of acknowledging to him what his infinite knowledge has already embraced. Confess then that Christ may intercede for you, the Church pray for you, the people pour forth their tears for you. Fear not that you cannot obtain pardon, for pardon is promised to you; grace, and a reconciliation with a most tender parent, are held out to you. Saint Ambrose.—Before thee, and so forth By this does our Redeemer shew, that the Almighty is here to be understood by the name of father: for the all-seeing eye of God only beholds all things, from whom even the secret machinations of the heart cannot be concealed. Saint John Chrysostom ex D. Tho.