The Holy Church, addressing God on our behalf, says: "The riches which thou hast given me, the accursed one, departed, needlessly dependent on evil, O Saviour, having lived in fornication, flattering the demon; Receive me, O generous Father, and save me." We are talking about the wealth that the younger son squandered – the wealth of God's grace. "Where your treasure is, there is your heart," said the Lord. This means that he who owns a person's heart is a slave to him. That is why Satan, through the spirits that obey him, seeks to take possession of our hearts. And the Lord, Who wants to save us, also wants to possess our hearts. Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky said that in the world Christ fights with Satan, and the battlefield is the heart of man. Invisible to us (and most people living on earth do not notice this at all), a constant battle is going on in our hearts – the battle of the spirits of darkness with the grace of God.

How do dark spirits end up in our hearts? Through thoughts. It never happens that a person commits a crime before he has conceived it. Sin is always preceded by a thought: a person first imagines a crime in his mind, and then commits it in deed. First, an image or idea appears in your head. If a person begins to consider this idea, to immerse himself in it, to cling to it, then gradually it begins to attract him, that is, he already likes it, his heart inclines to it. And when a person's heart desires to fulfill what is in his head, we can say that the Fall has already taken place, because the thought that Satan put into his head, the person has accepted in his heart.

Now, if the Lord allows it, the crime can be committed immediately, and if the Lord does not allow it, it may not actually be committed at the moment, but in fact the fall has already occurred. That is why the Apostle John the Theologian said: "Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer" – completely regardless of whether he killed or did not kill. If you are angry with someone, hate him and wish him death – you did not kill him on the spot, but only hate him – then you have already committed this murder. Before God, it does not matter whether this act is committed at the moment or not, because in his heart a person already agrees to kill, that is, he has let a murderer into his heart, he has let Satan in.

And in the parable of the Prodigal Son, which we will read tomorrow, it is described in detail how a person goes "to a far country" and loses the grace of God. A certain man had two sons: the younger and the eldest. And the younger said to his father: "Give me the part of the estate due to me, I will dispose of it myself, according to my own will." The father divided the property, and the son went to a distant country, where he quickly spent everything, for he lived in fornication. On the spiritual plane, this means that a person has accepted in his heart the idea that he can dispose of his life in his own way, as he pleases, apart from the commandments of God.

The Lord wants us to always be together with Him, so that we never, not for a second, lose the memory of God, always remember Him and constantly remain in prayer. And Satan is trying to lead us away from God to a far country. And this departure is often done mentally. Here we are standing in church, listening to the words of the divine service, and suddenly the thought has drifted somewhere, and sometimes very far away. Our thought can be carried away both home, where we have left something, and to work, where we have not done something. The thought can be carried away to friends, and to current affairs, and even to Africa – we read something in the newspaper, and then our mind begins to remember, and think, and consider what is happening there in Africa. Divine services are going on, the Church is praying to God, the Church is united with God, and we have flown to a distant country. And if we come to our senses, like the prodigal son, we will immediately say: "Lord, what is this with me? forgive, and have mercy, and keep" — if we cross ourselves and again cling to prayer, then the Lord will immediately come out to meet us, and immediately embrace us, kiss us, and immediately we will again be together with God. But often this does not happen: we begin to consider the thought, gradually it takes possession of our mind, and a mental fall occurs. In the parable, this is likened to the fact that a person entered the service of one of the inhabitants of that distant country.

Сатана, который всевал в наши души помыслы, грехи и страсти, воспитывал и культивировал их, прекрасно знает, кого чем соблазнить. У любого из нас присутствует весь набор страстей: тщеславие, честолюбие, себялюбие, сребролюбие, чревоугодие, блуд, жадность, болтливость и так далее. Но у каждого и своя главная страсть — та болезнь души, которая владеет его сердцем в большей степени. И сатана знает ее и, чтобы нас погубить, старается нам такие помыслы давать, какие свойственны нашему сердцу, пораженному данной страстью. Поэтому у блудного такие искушения, у жадного другие искушения, у тщеславного третьи — у каждого свои, каждому по его страсти. Сатана, чтобы человека прельстить, представляет в его голове какой-то особенно заманчивый для него образ, и человек рассматривает помысел, соглашается с ним, прилепляется к нему сердцем, ему этот помысел нравится.

Обычно гневливому на молитве предстает образ его врага — и он сразу начинает гневаться, раздражаться на него, вспоминать, какой он сякой. И уже нет молитвы, а он только думает, что вот в прошлый раз надо ему было так сказать да надо было так. Хорошо, если потом опомнится: да что же это такое? что же я делаю? А если не опомнится, то может дойти и до чего-нибудь ужасного, потому что сатана старается не только помыслы вложить, но тут же и искушение дать, чтобы грех реализовался. Обязательно так устроит, что человек, идущий и размышляющий о своем враге, с ним в этот именно момент и встретится, — чтобы его еще больше разогреть. Сатана же видит, что они идут навстречу, и заранее готовит эту встречу, а если человек решает куда-то свернуть, старается внушить ему мысль: не уклоняйся налево, а иди прямо — для того, чтобы они обязательно столкнулись.