At church today the gospel reading was the old prodigal son story. Our priest put an interesting spin on it in his homily. He described it as a story about forgiveness and about choosing to make your own way in life.
The young prodigal son returns home utterly humbled after squandering all his money on fast living, not expecting much of a welcome. His father, however, is overjoyed that the son has returned home and throws a big party. The elder son is disgruntled because he has always been the “good” son, never getting special treatment despite always doing everything his father asks.
On the surface it does seem a little unjust. But when you think about it (and this is the point our priest made), the elder son’s life followed a safe and easy path. He lived his life the way he thought his father would approve. He never had to make any difficult choices. On the other hand, the young son lived a totally different life, he made mistakes but learned from his experience.