In one of the preparatory weeks for holy Great Lent, the Orthodox Church recalls the Gospel parable told by Christ about the prodigal son. In this gospel story, meaning can be found for every person who strives for God.
The Evangelist Luke tells about the parable of Jesus Christ, in which the Savior tells about the prodigal son. One rich man had two sons. Once one of them decided to leave his father's house, asking his father for part of his material means as an inheritance for his existence. A loving father did not interfere with his son in his striving, although the parent's heart felt a sense of sorrow. The ungrateful son raised funds and left home.
In distant lands, the wicked son was booming, but the time came when the money ran out. The gospel character had nothing to eat, he had no shelter. And then the son remembered his father. He decided to return, repent and ask for forgiveness, hoping that his father would take him as one of his workers.
When the son approached his father's house, the father saw him and went out to meet him. The ungrateful son began to beg for forgiveness, saying that he was no longer worthy to be called a son. The loving parent hugged his child, ordered the servants to prepare a feast, slaughter the best calf, and dress the young man in rich clothes. The father was glad that he had regained his lost son.
The father's second son came home at that time and saw jubilation, which could not but cause bewilderment. He asked his parent about what event the celebration was. After hearing the explanation, the son became indignant. He complained to his father that he was so kind to the wicked brother. However, the father reassured his child, explaining that it was a great joy that the prodigal son had returned.
This parable is explained by the fact that God never rejects sinners. Christ elsewhere in the Gospel says that there is more joy in heaven about the one sinner who repents than about the 99 righteous. Those people who try to live with God have the opportunity of constant improvement. They can be with their heavenly Creator, which in itself is good for a person. And a sinner who has turned his back on God has no such possibility. Therefore, when a person regains the path to his heavenly Father through repentance and striving for the correction of life, God accepts the sinner. It is pleasing to God that man should leave his sinful life and return to his heavenly fatherland, because this manifests the free will of man in striving for good.
Orthodoxy sees almost every person in the prodigal son, because there are no people without sin. That is why the repentance of any person, according to the teachings of the Orthodox Church, causes joy in heaven.
