We await with anticipation holidays and holiday parties – but do we look forward to the day after? To the cleanup, the back-to-the-grind, the business-as-usual? Jesus’ parable in today’s Gospel recounts the lavish celebration of the father who rejoices at the homecoming of his wayward son. We rightly recognize in the father’s mercy the abundant forgiveness of our heavenly Father. But have we ever considered what happened the next day? The son, accustomed to his independence and dissolute life, is once again in his father’s house.

Meaningful human relationships rarely last if only one party makes an effort to maintain a connection. The same is true in our relationship with God. In the scene recorded in today’s first reading – arguably one of human history’s “Top Ten” most important events – God takes the initiative, but the encounter is two-sided. God causes the bush to burn and Moses approaches; God calls Moses and he responds, “Here I am!”; finally, Moses asks God his name and God reveals himself as “I am who am.” Moses’ cooperation with God throughout is essential for them to arrive at this monumental revelation which would allow Moses (and, by extension, all of the Israelites) to call upon God by name.

As humans, we are often burdened with heavy crosses. Experiences of loss, lack, failure, and betrayal can riddle our existence, leaving us fatigued and with a weary question in our hearts: What is this all for? And then, we look up. We raise our gaze and see before us the transfigured face of Christ. Having taken on our human form, Jesus stands before us in radiant glory. As we take in the scene, our senses mingling somewhere between admiration and alarm, we remember the promise he made to us.

We’ve all seen it: the standard cartoon sketch in which the main character, faced with a decision, imagines the devil coaxing him toward evil on one shoulder while an angel encourages him toward good on the other. Lighthearted though they are, these classic scenes are the product of Biblical wisdom and millennia of human experience. In fact, the Garden of Eden provided the prototype: Eve was the first to listen to Satan in a conversation that was disastrous for her and her descendants.

It can be uncomfortable to admit, but our speech habits can truly reveal our interior life. Too often, I’ve fallen prey to the temptation of gossip or other alluring but unbecoming forms of conversation. Perhaps we all have to some degree, which is why today’s words from Sirach capture our attention: “When a sieve is shaken, the husks appear; so do one’s faults when one speaks.”