Through them, we and all sinners will hasten to resort to Thy love for mankind. As Thou hast made them glorious and blessed, O Lord, so have mercy on us who fall down to Thee. As Thou didst raise up the dead when Thou wast crucified on the Cross, so raise us also, slain by sin, according to Thy great love for mankind, that we may be together with those redeemed at the cost of Thy resurrection." Amen.

  Sermon on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son This sermon was not published during Fr. John's lifetime In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit My friends, sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, the 2nd week before Great Lent is called the Sunday of the Prodigal Son. This parable was told to the audience by the Savior Himself and is preceded by the words: "Thus I say to you, joy is before the angels of God over the one sinner who repents."

The time of repentance is approaching, and the Heavenly Father assures us that for the sinner who has realized his miserable condition, who seeks God's mercy in repentance, "we must rejoice and be glad, for he was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found." Sin is death. Repentance is a return to life. Let us be imbued with this truth, and fasting will become for us a time of healing of the soul, and the Lord will rejoice over us, repentant sinners.

And I would tell you that the parable of the prodigal son is a parable of Love, of the incomprehensible, boundless Love of the Heavenly Father for us, sinners and His prodigal children. Having received by baptism the pledge of salvation adopted by God, we are no longer slaves, not hireling, but sons and daughters – heirs of the Kingdom of our Heavenly Father. The Father's love embraces us, it is divine and powerful—merciful, long-suffering, and most importantly, it never ceases.

It is able to call us from the bottom of hell and restore the dignity of a son to all those who have fallen to the Father in repentance. Who does not remember moments in his life when we, like the prodigal son, rejected God's Love, breaking free from our insane desires and plans? Who, having received the inheritance of God's gifts – deep intellect and talents – did not appropriate them for himself, forgetting about the giver and using what was given for evil both to himself and often to people?

Who has accepted the Word of God as his guide through life completely, without distorting it or rejecting it completely? And the Father is still waiting. The father, in whose hand is the almighty Providence for every person, who with one wave can return the lost child to the mind of the Truth, hesitates, giving the longed-for freedom demanded by the son. The Father's love awaits only reciprocal love, without depriving us of our freedom of choice in life.

Father continues to love and wait for our return. In the parable, the Father and His two sons. The eldest, who has grown up in his father's house, hears from the Father: "Child! You are always with me, and all my essence is yours." The lesser, as requiring the Father's special care for himself, the most beloved. And so he, the youngest, not understanding all the blessings of life under the protection of his father's love, not knowing all the vicissitudes and rapids of the sea of life, not knowing himself, desired freedom, so that without the father's good advice and supervision he could set out on a journey of life.

A cruelly self-willed heart does not feel the pain caused, forgets all the good that has been given to it by love. "And not after many days, having gathered everything, my son, departed to a distant country." But how do we flee from the presence of God?" God's Providence beholds the fugitive, and out of pity for the erring one, the harsh lessons of life are allowed for him. The inheritance received from the Father quickly melts away in the whirlwind of temptations, the intoxication of freedom and the caresses of greedy friends obscure the mind, illusory happiness makes the head spin.

And sin imperceptibly but imperiously begins its terrible destructive work. And now the youngest is already a complete slave of sin: "Squander your possessions, you who live in fornication." With sin comes ruin into life; the body is in poverty, the soul is languishing with hunger. The twilight of loneliness and oppressive silence reign in the place where joy was recently boiling. Friends left me, there is no helper or sympathizer.

Нищета вошла в свои горестные права, стерев и память о былом изобилии. «Изжившу же ему все, бысть глад крепок на стране ... , и той начал лишатися». Ужасное бедственное положение для избалованного сластолюбца. Скотоподобное состояние души низводит его в общество к свиниям и «желаше насытити чрево свое от рожец, яже ядяху свинии», но и этого он лишается. Промысл Божий неумолим. А окружающие только орудия  его власти.

Так человеколюбец Господь, не хотящий смерти грешника, различными путями и многообразными способами дает чувствовать Свое присутствие, призывает к покаянию. Страшный момент переживает душа падшего. Сможет ли вспомнить он о любви отчей или пойдет на поводу у врага до конца, бессмертной душой расплатившись за содеянные грехи? Думы – думы.

Осмысливание всего  происшедшего раскрывает всю мерзость греха; воскрешение в памяти  светлых начал жизни под кровом Отчим, возрождает угрызения совести,  и изменяет грешный образ мыслей. Душа оживает в сильном борении в тоске и томлении духа. «В себе же пришед» - постепенно он понял все, и совершилось глубокое перерождение души грешника, её возрождение для новой жизни.

Покаяние сокрушило в нем самолюбие, гордость и стыд и в смиренном сердце явилась решимость просить помилования: «И востав иде  ко отцу своему». Сколько примеров дает нам Св. Евангелие, когда в момент раскаяния и открытого противостояния добру и злу, только воля грешника делает последний выбор. Бог с диаволом борется и поле битвы сердце человеческое.

  Только в ответ на веру и доверие самого грешника Бог сотворит чудо. Господь ждет. Иуда, продавший Господа, предав кровь неповинную, раскаялся. И это был последний зов Божией любви к нему.  Но его покаяние отчаянием похитил враг, и он «шед, удавися». Апостол Петр,  исповедавший Христа Сыном Божиим, отрекся от Господа, но кроткий взгляд божественного страдальца пронзил его сердце, и он «шед, плакася горько».