As we once again find ourselves in the season of Great Lent, the 40 day journey to Holy Week and Pascha, we are reminded of another journey – one taken by a young man who had wandered far away from his homeland and who was returning there once again. I am speaking of the story told to us by Christ in the Gospel of Saint Luke, the Parable of the Prodigal Son. This story is a beautiful one that holds layers of meaning. It is a story of repentance, return, and healing.

At the crucial point in this story, the younger of the two sons finds himself destitute, hungry, and living as a beast among the beasts. He has left his father and travelled to a “far away country” where he has wasted his inheritance in licentious living, injuring himself through sin. When he finally “comes to himself”, and realizes that he is living a debased life with the pigs that he has been charged to feed, his heart laments for his former life – a life of dignity, stability, and love. It is in this moment that he makes a critical choice! Though he believes himself unworthy of full son-ship, he will return to his father as a penitent and ask to be taken on as a hired servant. As we can see, the heart of this young prodigal son has been humbled. He so desperately longs for his former life that he is willing to labor and to endure humiliation to gain it once again. His journey will be a long one, for he had gone to a faraway country, and he will toil along with the rest of the hired servants in order to be restored to the household.

We are familiar with the rest of this story: The Father, in His generous love for His son, runs to meet him on the road – not in order to scold, but to embrace, to heal, and to rejoice. The Prodigal Son is restored to his former life, not merely as a servant, but to the greater glory as a son.

This parable strikes a chord in our hearts as we travel through the journey of Great Lent. We can relate to the prodigal son, in that we have also strayed into a “far away country”, wasting the inheritance given to us by using our free will and powers of the soul to join ourselves to things unworthy of our dignity as human beings. Like the Prodigal Son, we find ourselves sometimes living as beasts among the beasts, feeding on inferior food rather than the medicine of eternal life, the Body and Blood of Christ.

Great Lent affords each of us the opportunity to make the journey back to the Father. It is toilsome, and it can seem long, but it is worth the effort! At the end of our journey awaits the joy of the Resurrection; At the end of our journey awaits true healing for our soul and body; At the end of our journey awaits God Himself, the loving Father Who seeks to remind us of our true worth as sons of daughters of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let us embrace this journey of Great Lent, entering into its services, fasting, and prayers so that we can arrive with joy into the loving embrace of our Father and be restored to the dignity in which we were created. Amen!