I found this beautiful passage in Henry Nouwen’s book “Spiritual Direction: Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith“:

The deeper meaning of the “return of the prodigal son” is the return to God’s womb, the return to the very origins of being . . . What I see here is God as Mother, receiving back into her womb the one whom she made in her own image. The near blind eyes, the hands, the cloak, the bent-over body, they all call forth the divine maternal love, marked by grief, desire, hope, and endless waiting.

The mystery, indeed, is that God in her infinite compassion has linked herself for eternity with the life of her children. She has freely chosen to become dependent on her creatures, who has gifted with freedom. This choice causes her grief when they leave; this choice brings her gladness when they return. But her joy will not be complete until all who have received life frm her have returned home and father together around the table prepared for them.