Forgiving a Son

Neque enim Apostolus contra evidentem Christi doctrinam veniret, qui de peccatore poenitentiam agente comparationem posuit eo quod peregre profectus acceptam a patre omnem substantiam devoraverit vivendo luxuriose, et postea panem patris desideraverit, cum vesceretur siliquis; et meruit stolam, annuum, calceamentum, immolationem quoque vituli, quae speciem habet passionis Dominicae, per quam coeleste sacramentum nobis donatur. Bene dicitur quia peregre profectus est, qui erat a sacris altaribus separatus; hoc est enim ab Jerusalem illa quae in coelo est, civico quodam et domestico sanctorum separari domicilo. Unde et apostolus ait: Ergo jam non estis advenae atque peregrini, sed cives sanctorum et domestici Dei. Et consumpsit, inquit, substantiam suam. Merito consumpsit eam, cujus fides in operibus claudicabat: Fides, enim, eorum quae sperantur, substantia est, rerum argumentum non apparentium. Et bona substantia fides, in quae spei est nostrae patrimonium. Nec mirum si fame peribat, qui divino alimento egebat; cujus desiderio compulsus: Surgam, inquit, et ibo ad patrem meum, et dicam illi: Pater, peccavi in coelum, et coram te. Nonne advertitis id evidenter nobis expositum, quod emerendi gratia sacramenti ad precandum impellimur; et hoc auferre vultis, propter quod agitur poenitentia? Tolle gubernatori perveniendi spem, et in mediis fluctibus incertus errabit. Tolle luctatori coronam, lentus jacebit in stadio. Tolle piscatori capiendi efficaciam, desinit jactare retia. Quomodo ergo potest qui famen patitur animae suae, studiosius Deum percari, si sacram desperet alimoniam? Paccavi, inquit, in coelum et coram te. Fatetur utique peccatum ad mortem, ne quem vos agentem cujuslibet criminis poenitentiam jure excludi putaretis; quando is qui in coelum peccavit, vel in regnum coeleste, vel in animam suam, quod est peccatum ad mortem; et peccavit coram Deo, cui soli dicitur: Tibi soli peccavi et malum coram te feci. Tam cito veniam meretur, ut venienti et adhuc longe posito occurrat pater, osculum tribuat, quod insigne est sacrae pacis: stolam proferri jubeat, quae vestis est nuptialis, quam si quis non habuerit, a convivio nuptiali excluditur: det annulum in manu ejus, quod est fidei pignus, et sancti spiritus signaculum: calceamenta deferri praecipiat; celebraturus enim pascha Domini, epulaturus agnum, tectum debet adversus omnes incursus bestiarum spiritalium, morsusque serpentis habere vestigium: vitulum praecipiat occidi; quia Pascha nostrum immolatus est Christus . Etenim quotiescumque sanguinem Domini sumimus, mortem Domini annuntiamus. Sicut ergo semel pro omnibus immolatus est, ita quotiescumque peccata donantur, corporis ejus sacramentum sumimus, ut per sanguinem ejus fiat peccatorum remissio. Ergo evidentissime Domini praedicatione mandatum est etiam gravissimi criminis reis, si ex toto corde, et manifesta confessione peccati poenitentiam gerant, sacramenti coelestis refundendam gratiam. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Paenitentia, Liber II, Cap III

And nor does the Apostle set himself against the plain teaching of Christ, who concerning the repentance of sin gave as a comparison one who having received all his inheritance from his father went off and consumed it in luxurious living and later when feeding on husks longed for his father's bread, and then was worthy of the robe and the ring and the shoes and the slaying of the calf, 1 which has a likeness of the passion of the Lord, by which the heavenly sacrament is given to us. Well is it said that he went abroad of him who is separated from the sacred altar, for this is to be separated  from that Jerusalem which is in heaven, from the citizenship and home of the saints, for which reason the Apostle says: 'Therefore now you are not strangers and foreigners, but citizens with the saints and of the household of God.' 2 And it is said that he wasted his inheritance. And certainly he does consume it whose faith limps in works. For, 'faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.' 3 And faith is a good substance, the inheritance of our hope. And no wonder that he was dying of hunger, he who lacked Divine nourishment, and driven by desire for it said, 'I will arise and go to my father, and I shall say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.' Do you not note that it is plainly revealed to us that we are urged to pray for the sake of earning the sacrament, and do you wish to bear off that for the sake of which penance is done? Take from the pilot the hope of arrival, and in the midst of the waves he will wander uncertainly. Take away the crown from him who struggles, and slowly he will sink down into the dust. Take from the fisherman the ability of catching fish, and he will no more cast out the nets. How, then, can he who suffers hunger in his soul pray more fervently to God, if he despair of the sacred food? 'I have sinned,' he says, 'against heaven, and before you.' He confesses what is certainly a sin to death, lest you think that any one doing penance is rightly excluded; for he who has sinned against heaven has sinned either against the kingdom of heaven, or against his own soul, which is a sin to death, and he has sinned before God, to whom alone it is said: 'Against You only have I sinned, and done evil before You.' 4 So quickly does he gain forgiveness, that, as he is coming, and is still a great way off, his father comes to him, gives him a kiss, which is the sign of sacred peace, orders the robe to be brought out, which is the wedding garment, which if any one does not have he shall be excluded from the wedding feast, 5 places the ring on his hand, which is the pledge of faith and the seal of the Holy Spirit, commands the shoes to be brought out, 6 for he who is about to celebrate the Lord's Passover, that is, about to feast on the Lamb, should  have for feet a covering against all attacks of spiritual wild beasts and the bite of the serpent, and orders the calf slain, for 'Christ our Passover has been sacrificed.' 7 For as often as we receive the Blood of the Lord, we proclaim the death of the Lord. 8 As, then, He was slain once for all, so whenever forgiveness of sins is granted, we receive the Sacrament of His Body, that through His Blood there may be remission of sins. Therefore most evidently are we commanded by the preaching of the Lord that on those guilty even of the greatest sins, if they with open confession bear the penance due to their sin, we confer again the grace of the heavenly sacrament. Saint Ambrose, On Repentance, Book 2, Ch. 3 1 Lk 15. 13 2 Eph 2:19  3 Heb 11:1  4 Ps 50.6  5 Lk 14.7-14] 6 Exodus 12:11 7 1 Cor 5:7 8 1 Cor 11:26