The parable is called “The Prodigal Son.” Prodigal isn’t a word we use much anymore—it means “spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant.” The younger son is definitely the prodigal son. It could also be called the prodigal father, though—accepting the lost son back home, the best robe, the gold ring, the fatted calf—that all seems pretty extravagant, too. But the world isn’t full of Prodigal Fathers, it’s full of sons who grew up to be ManBoys.
