In today's first reading, we see the arrival of the people of Israel to the Promised Land. This is a great event! What would that event be for us, the new people of Israel? For the people of Israel, the desert was the weary journey, on which they had nothing but the care of God and the Manna. We, the Church of Christ, the new people of Israel, have not yet reached the Promised Land. This world is the desert for our souls, which find nothing to satisfy them. Our Manna is the Bread of the Eucharist, where we find the nourishment of God's infinite Love, which never abandons us. The Promised Land is the one still in the promises of the Book of Revelation. The New Heaven and the New Earth, both of which will be united in the Eternal Kingdom of our Father.
In the Gospel, we have the two sons of the generous Father. Neither of them ever reaches communion with the Father's feelings. The one who was supposed to be with the father lived only hating, criticizing, or perhaps envying the son who left, and with regret, he fulfilled the things he had to do. Out of obligation, not out of love and conviction. How many Catholics are in the same position as the older son, judging and criticizing "sinners." Ultimately, we must convince ourselves that among humans we have no enemy. Those who behave badly and rebel against God do so because they are deceived by the true enemy of God and of us. Our true mission as Christians is to shed God's Light on all souls and lead them out of the world so that they too may receive the New Earth and the New Heaven together with all the Children of God.