The Prodigal So by Henri Nouwen
Week 2: Part One — The Younger Son (I)
Read Part One of The Return of the Prodigal Son (chapters on the younger son's departure and life in the far country). Primary Scripture: Luke 15:11–16.
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The younger son's story begins not with his return but with his departure — and Nouwen insists that understanding the nature of that departure is essential to understanding what coming home will mean.
Discussion Questions
8 questions1.The younger son's request — "Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me" — was, in its cultural context, tantamount to saying, "I wish you were dead." How does Nouwen use this cultural background to deepen our understanding of what the son is actually doing? Why does the severity of the offense matter?
2.Nouwen describes the younger son's journey to a "far country" not merely as a geographical movement but as a spiritual one — a movement away from the truth of his belovedness. In what ways do we make similar journeys, perhaps without ever leaving home?
a.What are the "far countries" that have tempted or claimed you at different seasons of your life?
b.Nouwen identifies the search for love and affirmation in the wrong places as one primary form of this departure. Do you recognize that pattern in yourself?
3.The son "squanders his wealth in wild living" — and then a famine comes. Nouwen notices that the famine is external but the son's poverty was already internal. What does it mean that we can be starving long before circumstances make that obvious?
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