In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen. Today we hear what’s probably one of the most well-known parables of Christ, the parable of the prodigal son. The prodigal son lived a life of luxury in his father’s home. He had the best food, the best clothing, the best house servants to serve him, even to wash his feet.
You might ask, “Why in the world would he desire to leave his father’s house, to leave all that care, that security, and that love?” To answer that question, I want to bring you back to the Garden of Eden. Because what we see in today’s parable is a repeat of the original sin, a desire to be independent from God. Adam and Eve were created and put in paradise and they lacked nothing. Everything was provided for them.
And in the same way that Satan whispered into their ears, he whispered into the ear of the prodigal son, saying, “Life will be better without your father.” You can figure things out on your own. You don’t need his rules or his guidance. He’s trying to hold you back. If you want something, just go out and get it.
You don’t need his blessing. You are your own authority. Everything Gregory Palamas says that Satan cunningly begiles us in the same way little by little, whispering, “It won’t hurt you to live independently of God.” You don’t have to go to church. You don’t have to follow the teachings of Christ and the Holy Fathers.
You can figure out the purpose of life all on your own and do good things without your heavenly father. You see where Satan starts with our thoughts. Just like he did with Adam and Eve and the prodigal son, he tries to poison our mind with unnatural, sinful and prideful thoughts. Elder Thaddeus Avitovnikus says, “Watch over your thoughts and be vigilant.
Everything originates from thoughts, both good and evil. If your thoughts are pure, bright and healthy, everything you do will be blessed, so watch your thoughts.“ Brothers and sisters, we must be very careful and very attentive to dismiss sinful thoughts right away. Otherwise, according to Saint Gregory Palamas, these thoughts weaken the mind. He says, “Once the mind has been weakened, the soul’s ability for real love falls away from what it truly desires, and instead the soul seeks and desires sensual pleasures.
With his mind weakened, the prodigal son is no longer able to perceive the love of his father, nor is he able to recognize the many blessings he’s provided him all his life, so he demands his inheritance and leaves his father’s house for a far country. The goal of Satan has always been the same from the time of the garden of Eden until now to draw us out of our heavenly father’s house, out of his loving embrace and into a place far away from God. Satan desires to break our communion with God by shifting our attention away from the Creator towards material things. And what does a prodigal do with his so-called newfound freedom?
He wastes his inheritance on loose living. And this loose living, this sinful way of life, is a natural consequence of his separation from his father who was the source of all his blessings. He eventually finds himself in need, so he joins himself to a citizen of that country who sends him into his fields to feed the pigs. No one gave him anything, and he desired even to eat of the food that he was feeding to the pigs.
Saint Gregory Palamas says that the citizens and the rulers of that country far from God are the demons, and that the pigs, because of their extreme filthiness, are symbolic of all the passions. And I want to take a few minutes and talk about what the passions are. What do we mean when we say the passions? The passions are the uncontrolled desires and exaggerated wants that result from putting our physical needs above our spiritual ones, from putting our will above God’s will.
When Adam committed the first sin, he made the things of the world more important than the God who created the world. In other words, he put material, sensual things above spiritual things. This created a disorder that we’ve inherited, in which it’s easier to put worldly things first. Because of this, the natural desires of man have become distorted, so that our natural needs have become exaggerated wants.
And this is what we mean by passions. His great bishop Anthony likes to define a passion as a misfire of desire. For example, we have needs like eating, and drinking, and sleeping, and making a living. And these needs are not bad in and of themselves.
But when we desire more than we need, it becomes a passion or an exaggerated want. Rather than having enough to eat, we become gluttonous. Rather than getting the sleep we need, we sleep in and waste our day. Rather than having enough money for security and stability, we become greedy.
St. Gregory Palamas says, “If someone who loves money gets gold or silver, his need for it grows, and the more it flows in, the more it increases his desire.” In other words, when we tell ourselves, “If I have more of this, then I’ll be happier, then you should know that the need has turned into a passion.” The devil deceives us into thinking that the more we get, the more we’ll be satisfied. But in fact, it is the opposite that happens, because the passions leave us feeling empty. That’s why St.
Paul says in today’s epistle, “I will not be enslaved by anything. But we see this slavery today with every kind of addiction, whether it be gambling, drugs, alcohol, or a sexual addiction. Those suffering are always going for their next high, and they are never satisfied.” St. Theophon the recluse says, “When a man is given over to the passions, he does not see them in himself and does not fight against them, because he lives in them and by them.
But when the grace of God becomes active in him, he begins to discern the passionate and sinful in himself, acknowledge them, and he repents. The soul will always long for its creator, and nothing will bring a true satisfaction but him. Ultimately, the passions separate us from God and lead to our spiritual death.“ And that’s why, according to the Holy Fathers, the first step in the spiritual life is to rid ourselves of the passions. Only when we do that can we think with spiritual clarity and see all things in a spiritual way.
This is called purification. We are approaching the season of great and holy Lent. This time is set apart for us to work on our purification from the passions. Fasting helps us to restore the balance between the soul and the body.
It strengthens our willpower by bringing our desires under the control of the Spirit. This Lent that allows us to reorient ourselves to the Father, our Father and Heaven in a way from earthly things. We deprive and weaken the body so that we can feed and strengthen the Spirit. If we wonder why we struggle with our passions and see no improvement, it’s because we are not taking advantage of the fasting periods of the Church and the immeasurable grace that becomes available for those who take fasting seriously.
So let’s not waste this opportunity that is drawing near that will bring us closer to our Heavenly Father. Now coming back to the Prodigal Son, we see that he is not satisfied by the passions represented by his life with the pigs. And the fact that he couldn’t eat enough of their food is a reminder that the life of passions and of evil can never satisfy the soul. As soon as the Prodigal Son realized how deeply he had fallen into the passions, he came to his senses and said, “How many of my Father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish with hunger.
I will arise and go to my Father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you, I am not worthy to be called your Son, treat me as one of your hired servants.’ According to St. Gregory Palamas, the Prodigal Son was brought to his senses by humility. He realized that he had taken the love and care of his Father and his blessings for granted and that he did not deserve any of it. He realized that he was ungrateful and reckless and that he would die if he remained in his passions.
But this realization, and this is important, this realization is only the beginning of the process of the Prodigal’s repentance. These humble thoughts that he began to cultivate about himself and his sins and his unworthiness is not the end of repentance. There are many people who know and realize that they are living a life of sin. They even have remorse and they shed tears, but that is not repentance.
Repentance is turning away from those sins and passions. It’s getting out of the pigsty and returning to your Father. We read in the parable that he arose and came to his Father. St.
Gregory Palamas says, ’Let us take hold of repentance by our actions. Let us abandon the evil one in his herds. Let us keep away from pigs and the husks they eat. That is to say, the disgusting passions in their devotees.
Let us withdraw from evil pastors, namely habitual sins. Let us flee from the land of the passions, which means unbelief, unquenchable desire and overindulgence. As soon as the Father sees the Prodigal son returning, he does not wait for him, but rather runs to him. He embraces him and he kisses him.
In other words, when our Heavenly Father sees our repentance and that we’ve turned away from our passions, he meets us with his grace to assist us in our return. Upon seeing his Father, the Prodigal confesses his sins. I have sinned before you and before heaven,’ he says. And how does the Father respond?
He calls to his servants and says, ‘Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him. Bring the fatted calf and kill it. Let us eat and make merry.’ Saint Gregory Palamas says that the servants are the priests of the Church. The robe is the baptismal robe and the fatted calf that is killed and eaten is the Holy Eucharist.
So in summary, the return of the Prodigal son serves as an image of our return to the sacramental life of the Church. It is an example and an image of what authentic repentance looks like. The Prodigal, upon seeing himself drowning in the ocean of passions, is brought to his senses by humility which inspires in him the desire to repent. But it doesn’t stop there, he arises from the filth of his sin and desires to return to his Father’s house the Holy Church.
He confesses his sins, he receives absolution from the priests of the Church, renewing the brightness of his baptismal garment, and then he is brought in to receive the most precious body and blood of Christ, sealing the forgiveness of his sins and the healing of his soul and body. That’s easier said than done, isn’t it? The passions seem to overtake us. Doing spiritual work doesn’t always come easy, but that doesn’t mean that we give up.
Our Lord said that Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and it is the violence who take it by force. You need to force yourself to come to church, to do your prayers, to fast, to read Scripture, to read the lives of the saints, to forgive and to love. And when God sees this struggle, he will come to meet you and carry you as he did with the Prodigal in today’s gospel. And his grace will begin to work in you so that over time the spiritual work will come naturally and will be done lovingly.
And I’m going to end with a quote from St. Nectario Savagina. He says, “We have within us deeply rooted weaknesses, passions and defects. This cannot all be cut out with one sharp motion, but patience, persistence, care and attention, the path leading to perfection is long.
Pray to God so that he will strengthen you, patiently accept your falls and having stood up, immediately run to God, not remaining in that place where you have fallen. Do not despair if you keep falling into your old sins. Many of them are strong. They have received the force of habit, only with the passage of time and with fervor will they be conquered.
Don’t let anything deprive you of hope. In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen.“