Charles Peguy on the Parable of the Two Sons

Last Sunday's Gospel reading was on the parable of the two sons in Luke. Here is Charles Peguy on the topic, excerpted from his long poem (a whole book!) The Portal of the Mystery of Hope.

"Then he said: A man had two sons:
And he who hears it for the hundredth time,
It's as if it were for the first time.
That he heard it.
A man has two sons. It is beautiful in Luke. It is beautiful everywhere.
It's not only beautiful in Luke, it's everywhere.
It's beautiful on earth and in heaven. It's beautiful everywhere.
Just by thinking about it, a sob rises to your throat.
It's the word of Jesus that has had the greatest effect
On the world.
That has found the deepest resonance
In the world an in man.
In the heart of man.
In the believing heart, in the unbelieving heart.

What a sensitive spot has it found
That none had found before it,
That none had found, (to the same extent), since.
What a unique point.
Unsuspected before,
Unobtained ever since.
A point of suffering, a point of distress, a point of hope.
A sore spot, a spot of anxiety.
A tender spot in man's heart.
A spot that one shouldn't press, a place of scarring, a place of laceration
and of scarring.
That one shouldn't press.

*******

A man has two sons. Of all of God's parables
This one has awakened the deepest echo.
The most ancient echo.
The oldest, the newest echo.
The freshest echo.
Believer or unbeliever.
Known or unknown.
A unique point of resonance.
The only one that the sinner has never been able to silence in his heart.
Once this word of hope has bitten into his heart
Into his believing or unbelieving heart,
No pleasure will ever more be able to erase
Its teeth-marks.
Such is this work. She's a word that stays with you.
She follows like a dog
That remains even though you beat it.
Like a mistreated dog, who always comes back.
She remains faithfully, she comes back like a faithful dog.
There's no use kicking her or beating her with a stick.
She's faithful
With a special fidelity,
She thus accompanies man into his greatest
Follies.
She is the one who teaches that all is not lost.
It is not God's will
That a single one of these little ones shall perish."