Dr. Augustine Sokolovski
The second preparatory Sunday before Lent is the Sunday of the Prodigal Son. During Sunday liturgy, the great parable of the Lord Jesus is read. This is more than a parable; it is a real event in world history. From the moment Jesus told the parable of the Prodigal Son, and the Evangelist Luke recorded these words, moved by the Holy Spirit, the course of history changed. The course of human history changed because from then on, repentance became its foundation. The principle of crime and punishment, which had previously dominated all religions and all relationships between man and God, was replaced by the expectation of forgiveness.
God the Father welcomes the prodigal son, opens his arms, and prepares a feast for him, saying: “Bring the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet; and bring the fattened calf and slaughter it; let us eat and rejoice!” - proclaims the Gospel. The Church is a community of interpreters. In the Orthodox Christian understanding, the true feast of faith, the supper of forgiveness and thanksgiving, is the Holy Eucharist. This means that the Heavenly Father from the Parable had another Son, unique and irreplaceable, Who, like a slaughtered calf, or rather, like a Lamb, gave Himself for the sins of the world so that forgiveness might come.
The parable of the prodigal son is read by the Church two weeks before the beginning of Great Lent. Thus, all believers are called to repentance and the Eucharist, two sacraments which, being the sacramental embrace of the Heavenly Father, open the doors of His house. To enter the Kingdom, one must forget one's former self and return despite the magnitude of one's sins and shame. One must also be cautious. The most important paradigm of biblical behavior for a believer is not to look around and not to condemn divine forgiveness towards others, as the older son mistakenly did. And one more thing. Repentance must be genuine. It is impossible to come to church or, for example, take monastic vows, which is a real-life version of the parable of the prodigal son, for career or convenience reasons. Fake repentance is a very grave sin; the parable of the prodigal son cannot simply be imitated, it must be fulfilled once and for all.