About the Sunday of the Prodigal Son

On this day, the Holy Church, continuing to prepare us for the cleansing struggle of the Fast, offers a new moral lesson from the Gospel parables of Christ. Let us recount the content of the parable.

A certain man had two sons. One day, the younger of them said to his father, “Give me the portion of the inheritance that falls to me,” as though his father had already died. Without objection, the father granted his request. Soon after, the young man left home with the received wealth and traveled to a far country, where, over the course of several years, he squandered all his possessions in drunkenness and debauchery, until he had nothing left for even the simplest food and clothing. At that time, a famine arose in the land, and no one gave him even alms. The young man then hired himself out to a local resident to tend his swine. He was so hungry that he was willing to eat the pods—the husks of beans given as feed for the swine—but even these were denied to him.

At last, the wretched youth came to his senses. “At home, my father feeds his hired servants to the full, while I perish here with hunger,” he said to himself. “I will arise and go to my father, and I will say unto him, ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven (that is, against God) and before thee, and I am no more worthy to be called thy son. But receive me at least as one of thy hired servants.’”

When the father learned that his ungrateful son was returning, he ran far out to meet him, embraced him, and kissed him. The son at once spoke the words he had prepared. The father brought him into the house, clothed him in the finest festive garments, commanded that the fatted calf be slain, and held a feast, saying: “Let us eat and be merry! For this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”

Meanwhile, the elder son, who had been working in the field, returned home. Before reaching the house, he heard the sounds of joyous feasting, grew indignant, and refused to enter. The father came out to him, but the elder son, offended, said: “I have served thee these many years and have never disobeyed thee; yet thou never gavest me even a young goat that I might make merry with my friends. But when this thy son, who hath devoured thy living with harlots, returned, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf!”

The father replied: “My child, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. But it is meet that we should rejoice and be glad, for this thy brother was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” (cf. Luke 15:11–32).

The Meaning of the Parable

This parable can be understood in multiple ways, as expounded by the holy theologians in their interpretations. However, let us focus on the most general meaning, as revealed in the liturgical texts of the Triodion. In the figure of the prodigal son who squandered his father’s inheritance, each of us may recognize ourselves. Have we not, in betrayal, turned away from the love of God and His saving will, preferring the fleeting pleasures of this world to the boundless goodness of our heavenly Father, of whom Scripture says: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9)?

And when the temptations of the world have led us far from the path of righteousness, plunging us into the abyss of sin, have we not, finding no other help, remembered our loving Father and begged Him to deliver us from our afflictions? Yet, even after such deliverance, many of us have again and again strayed from faithfulness to our Savior, returning “into a far country” and sinking into sinful vanity as before.

The parable of the Prodigal Son teaches us never to despair of salvation, no matter how great our sins may be. Let us remember that the Eternal and Only-begotten Son of God Himself taught us, mortal and insignificant as we are, to call His Father our Father in prayer, addressing Him with a word that speaks of His boundless mercy and love for each person created in His image.

“The father gave the son the treasure he possessed, yet the wealth of faith never diminishes: though He has given all, He still has all, for God does not lose what He bestows. And do not fear that He will not accept thee: ‘God hath no pleasure in the destruction of the living’ (Wisdom 1:13). He will come forth to meet thee when thou returnest home and will run to embrace thee, for ‘the Lord upholdeth all that fall’ (Ps. 145:14). He will kiss thee as a sign of mercy and love, He will command that garments, a ring, and shoes be brought forth. Thou still fearest, thinking thou hast offended Him, yet He restores thee to thy dignity; thou dreadest punishment, yet He honors thee with a kiss; thou expectest reproach, yet He prepares a feast for thee.” (Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Book 7).

The Lesson of Humility and Mercy

In today’s parable, Christ teaches us that childlike faith in the mercy and love of our Heavenly Father must be accompanied by humility and a spirit free from condemnation. This is why the parable introduces the figure of the elder, obedient son, who envies his father’s mercy toward his sinful brother.

Often, the reality is even worse: a person who has repeatedly angered God with apostasy and evil deeds, once he has finally embarked on the path of repentance, forgets his own past and loudly condemns other sinners or complains about God’s patience in not punishing them!

To such people, St. John Chrysostom addresses his admonition: “Even after being cleansed of sins, we must keep them ever before our eyes. And if God, in His mercy, forgives thy sin, thou must still remember it for the safety of thy soul, for the memory of past sins protects against future ones. He who grieves over past sins guards himself from repeating them. That is why David says: ‘…and my sin is ever before me’ (Ps. 50:5), that by keeping before his eyes his former sins, he might not fall into future ones.” (On Repentance, Homily 7).

Stichera at the Praises, Tone 6 #

O Good Father, I have departed from Thee—forsake me not,
and do not make me unworthy of Thy Kingdom.
The all-cunning enemy has stripped me bare,
and taken from me my wealth;
I have squandered the gifts of my soul in wantonness.
But now I arise and return to Thee, crying aloud:
Make me as one of Thy hired servants,
Thou who for my sake didst stretch out
Thine all-pure hands upon the Cross,
that Thou mightest snatch me from the cruel beast,
and clothe me again in the first garment,
O Thou alone who art rich in mercy!