A Discourse on the Sunday of the Pharisee and the Publican

“I will arise and go to my father.” (Lk 15:18)

(Words of the prodigal son from the Gospel parable that is now being read)

Brethren! The parable of the prodigal son should occupy all our attention. In it, as in a mirror, we see ourselves. The All-knowing Lord shows us, in a few words and in the person of one man, how the deceptive sweetness of sin separates us from the truly sweet life lived according to God, and how the heaviness of sin that we have experienced for the soul and body impels us, by the action of God’s grace, to turn back, and actually turns many of us again to God, to a life of virtue. Let us recall it and speak about how necessary and how easy it is for a sinner to turn to God.

A certain man had two sons. When they came of age, the younger said to his father, give me the portion of the estate that falls to me. And the father divided his estate. The elder son did not take his portion and remained with his father—a sign that he loved his father with a pure heart, found pleasure in fulfilling his will (“I have never transgressed your commandment” (Lk 15:29)) and considered it foolish to leave him. But the younger, a few days after this, having gathered all his possessions, went away from his father’s house to a distant land and there squandered his estate, living dissolutely. From this we see that he had neither a good nor a pure heart, was not wholeheartedly disposed toward his good father, was burdened by his oversight, and dreamed of living instead by the will of his depraved heart. But hear what happened to him in his separation from his father’s house. When he had spent all in this foreign land in a manner not becoming: a great famine came upon that country, and he began to be in want. He went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he was glad to fill his belly with the pods (acorns and husks) that the swine ate; but no one gave him anything. Coming to himself, he said, How many of my father’s hired servants have food in abundance, while I am perishing here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father and will say to him: Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son; receive me as one of your hired servants. He arose and went to his father. And while he was still far away, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran and fell upon his neck and kissed him. He forgave his transgression, brought him into his house, clothed him in the finest garments, and made a feast on the occasion of his return (Lk 15:11-32). Thus the lost son entered again into his father’s love.

Brethren! So does our Heavenly Father deal with us. He does not hold us to Himself by force if we, having a depraved and ungrateful heart, do not wish to live according to His commandments; rather, He permits us to go from Him and to learn from experience how dangerous it is to live according to the will of our heart, what a tormented sense of the lack of peace and quiet the soul experiences when given over to passions, and what shameful food sustains it—for what can be more shameful than the food of passions? But may God not allow anyone to remain forever in this separation from God: far from God is sure and eternal destruction. “All who separate themselves from You shall perish,” (Ps 72:27) says the holy king and prophet David. It is absolutely necessary to turn from the destructive path of sin to God with all one’s heart; and let everyone be assured that God will see his sincere turning, will meet him with love, and will once again receive him into the number of His children.

Have you sinned? Say with full resolve in your heart: “I will arise and go to my Father,” (Lk 15:18) and go to Him in deed. And as soon as you begin to utter these words in your heart; as soon as you resolve firmly to live according to His will: He will immediately see that you are returning to Him. He is always “not far from any one of us.” (Act 17:27) Right away He will pour peace into your heart: it will suddenly seem to you so easy and pleasant—as, for instance, it is pleasant to an insolvent debtor when his debt is forgiven, or as it is pleasant to a beggar when he is suddenly clothed in fine garments or seated at a rich table.

But note this, brethren: for as many kinds of sins or passions as there are, so many are the paths back to our Heavenly Father. Each sin or passion is a path to a land far from God. Did you go by the way of unbelief? Turn back and recognize its complete senselessness; feel in your heart all its weight, emptiness, and destructiveness, and stand firmly on the path of the soothing, sweet, and life-giving faith, and hold to it with all your heart. Did you go by the way of pride? Turn back and stand on the path of humility, and hate pride, knowing that God resists the proud. Did you go by the way of envy? Turn back from this hellish road and be content with what God has sent, and remember whose offspring it is: the first envious one was the devil, and “through envy of the devil, sin entered the world.” (Solom 2:24) Be well-wishing toward all. If you went by the way of enmity and wrath: turn back and stand on the path of meekness and love. Remember that “whoever hates his brother is a murderer.” (1Jn 3:15) Or have you departed from God through gluttony and debauchery? Turn back and stand on the path of temperance and chastity, and always remember, for guidance in life, the words of the Savior: “Take heed to yourselves, that your hearts may not be made heavy with gluttony and drunkenness and the anxieties of life,” (Lk 21:34) and the words of the repentant prodigal son: we have sinned before You and are no longer worthy to be called Your sons; receive us, even as servants; and He will surely receive us as children. Amen.