You're listening to Catholic Sprouts, the daily podcast for Catholic kids that strives to plant seeds of faith.

Hey there, Sprouds. Today is Friday, April 5th, 2019. This week on the Catholic Sprouts podcast,

we have been talking about some of the parables that Jesus used to teach while he was here on

earth. So far, we have talked about the parables of the lost sheep, the unmercable servant, the good Samaritan, and the Pharisee,

and the tax collector. Today, we are going to talk about what is probably the most well-known

parable that Jesus told, and that is of the prodigal son. Now, this parable is a little bit longer, and we are going to be reading

the parable, the version of this parable that appeared in the gospel of Luke. So here it is.

Then Jesus said, a man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father, Father, give me the share of your estate that

should come to me, so the father divided the property between them. After a few days, the younger

son collected all of his belongings and set off to a distant country, where he squandered his

inheritance on a life of dissipation.

When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself

in dire need. So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm

to tend the pigs. And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the

pigs fed, but nobody gave him any. Coming to his senses, he thought, how many of my father's

hired workers have more than enough food to eat? But here I am dying of hunger. I shall get up and go to my father,

and I shall say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve

to be called your son. Treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers. So he got up and

went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. His son said to him, father, I have sinned against you and against heaven. I no longer deserve to be called your son. But his father ordered his

servants. Quickly, bring the finest robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on

his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast because this

son of mine was dead and has come to life again.

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