sunday of the prodigal son 2022

Sunday of the Prodigal Son
The parable of the Prodigal Son [Luke 15.11-32] which we hear today forms an
exact icon of repentance in its different stages. Sin is exile, enslavement to
strangers, hunger. Repentance is the return from exile to our true home; it is to
receive back our inheritance and freedom is the Father’s house. But repentance
implies action: “I will rise up and go....” [[verse 8]. To repent is not just to feel
dissatisfied, but to make a decision and to act upon it.
On this and the next two Sundays, during the incensing of the Church at the
beginning of Liturgy, we will hear the sorrowful verses of Psalm 136: “By the
waters of Babylon, we sat down and wept....” This Psalm of exile, sung by the
children of Israel in their Babylonian captivity, has a special appropriateness on this
Sunday of the Prodigal Son, when we call to mind our present exile in sin and make
the resolve to return home.
The Epistle read today [1 Corinthians 6.12-20] touches on the mortification of the
flesh reminding us that eight days from now we will be entering into the period of
the fast as we observe Meatfare.