He is there, he sees the son from afar; he was waiting for him every hour of every day. The son was always in his father’s heart, even though he had left him, even though he had squandered his whole inheritance, his freedom. The father, with patience, love, hope, and mercy had never for a second stopped thinking about him, embraces him with tenderness, the tenderness of God, without a word of reproach: his son has returned! And that is the joy of the father.
– Pope Francis, The Church of Mercy