Sunday of the Prodigal Son
The Parable of the
Prodigal Son which we hear today, and second Pre-Lenten Sunday, forms an
exact icon of repentance in its different stages. Sin is exile, enslavement
to strangers, hunger. Repentance is the return
from exile to our true home; it is to receive back our inheritance and freedom in our Father’s house.
But repentance implies action: “I will rise up and go….”
the Prodigal says. To repent is not just to feel dissatisfied,
but to take a decision and to act upon it.
In the Epistle read today, Paul speaks of the mortification of the flesh, a reminder
that eight days from today we enter into the preliminary session of fasting.
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The readings below are Sunday, February 16, 2025
Today's Epistle reading: [1 Cor 6.12-20]
"All things are lawful for me," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful for me,"
but I will not be enslaved by anything. "Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food" — and God
will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And
God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall
I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who joins himself
to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, "The two shall become one flesh.”
But he who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Shun immorality. Every other sin which a man commits
is outside the body; but the immoral man sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy
Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
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Today's Gospel reading: [Luke 15.11-32]
And he said, "There was a man who had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me
the share of property that falls to me.' And he divided his living between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered
all he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in loose living. And when he had
spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. So he went and joined himself to one of
the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have fed on the pods that the
swine ate; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have
bread enough and to spare, but I perish here 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 no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.”'
And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and
embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer
worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him;
and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; for
this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to make merry. And he said, "There was a man who
had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of property that falls to me.' And he
divided his living between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far
country, and there he squandered his property in loose living. And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that
country, and he began to be in want. So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into
his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate; and no one gave him anything. But when
he came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here 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 no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.”' And he arose and came to his
father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes
on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; for this my son was dead, and is alive
again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to make merry. "Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.
And he called one of the servants and asked what this meant. And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has
killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and sound.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father
came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, 'Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your
command; yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured
your living with harlots, you killed for him the fatted calf!’ And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and
all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was
lost, and is found.'"
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