Омилия III. 4

On the parable of the Lord about the saved prodigal son “There will be a famine,” said the Prophet, mourning Jerusalem, “not a famine of bread and water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord” (Amos.8:11). Hunger is a state of deprivation along with the need for necessary food. But there is a hunger worse and more tragic than this hunger; it is when someone who, deprived of what is necessary for (acquiring) salvation, does not feel the horror of disaster, does not even feel the need for salvation. He who is hungry and cannot find it, goes around all the way up and down, looking for bread somewhere, and even if he found one made from musty dough, or someone gave him a cake made from millet or bran or other low-value types of food, he is as happy as he was previously grieving when he was deprived of it. So he who has spiritual hunger, i.e. one who is deprived and at the same time has a need for spiritual food, goes around everything up and down, looking for someone who has the gift of teaching from God; and if he finds it, he eats with joy the bread of spiritual life, which is the word of salvation; it is impossible not to find it for those who persistently search to the end. “Everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and the door is opened to him who asks” (Matthew 7:8, Luke 11:10), said Christ. But there are also those who, due to long-term spiritual starvation, lose the very desire to be satisfied; therefore, they acquire insensitivity to harm, and even if the teacher is visible, they have an unwillingness to listen to the teaching; and if they had not had a teacher, they would not have sought, leading a life much more sinful than that of the prodigal son. For, although he was in deprivation, having moved away from the common Provider, and Father, and Master, but having fallen into severe hunger, and feeling deprivation, he repented and returned and again received divine and pure food, and thanks to repentance, he acquired the gifts of the Spirit to such an extent that he even became the envy of the rich man. “But it is better, having taken it from the beginning, we will present to your love this Lord’s Gospel parable, since today it is the custom to read it in churches. “A certain man,” says the Lord, “had two sons” (Luke 15:11). Here under that “man” the Lord speaks about Himself, and there is nothing surprising here. For if He truly became a Man for our salvation, then why be surprised if for our benefit He presented Himself (in the parable) as one of the people, He Who is always the Guardian of both soul and body, as the Lord and Creator of both; Who alone showed deeds of love for us and abundant care even before we came into being? For before we came into the world, He prepared for us the eternal inheritance of the Kingdom, as He Himself says, “before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24). Before us, for our sake, He created ministering angels, as Paul says, for the sake of those who will inherit salvation. Before us, for our sake, He stretched out the sky over this entire sensory world, erecting, as it were, a kind of common tent that existed equally for everyone; the sky is always self-moving and moving in a variety of ways, as if in order to maintain its proper place in the balance of self-motion; always moving within itself, it carries with it many stars, so that from this we learn the transience of real life and perceive the benefit, both from everything that is under it, and sometimes from something else, that which is above our heads. For our sake, before us, He created the great luminary at the beginning of the day, and the lesser one at the beginning of the night, and established them and other stars in the firmament of the sky, moving in the same direction as it, or in the opposite direction, and in many forms either going together or deviating, so that they would serve us as signs both for determining the times (years) and the cycle of years; which neither the angelic nature, which exists above sensory perceptions, nor the being of dumb animals, living only according to sensuality, needs. So, they were created for our sake, gifted with feelings and other needs, and a sense of the beauty of the visible world, and perceiving these signs with our minds through our senses. For our sakes before us, He founded the earth, stretched out the sea, poured out air richly over it, and then wisely hung the element of fire over it, in order to moderate the associated excess of cold in what is below it, and so that the excess of the heat of that fire in its area would remain intact; if, for their existence, dumb animals need the same things as people, but they themselves, in order to be slaves of people, came into existence before us, as the Prophet David sings. So, before creating us, our Creator made this whole world for the sake of our body; produced from nothing. To improve morals and guide in virtue, what has not the Lord, who loves virtue, done? – This entire sensory world is, as it were, some kind of mirror of what is above the world, so that through the spiritual contemplation of this world, as if along some wonderful ladder, we can ascend to that higher world. He placed in us an innate law, like a certain norm that knows no compromise, and an infallible judge, and an unerring mentor - our own conscience in each of us - so that if we happen to be confused by a thought in our souls, we would not need another mentor to understand the good; If, however, we transfer our mind well to external sensation, then, as the Apostle says, “the invisible things of God, from the creation of the world have been thought by the creatures, are visible” (Rom. 1:20). So, having discovered the knowledge of virtue through nature and creation, He appointed Guardian Angels; raised up Fathers and Prophets for guidance; showed signs and wonders leading to faith; gave us the written Law, which helps the law embedded in our rational nature, and the knowledge obtained on the basis of (contemplation) of creation. Finally, after we have ignored everything - oh, what negligence on our part! and, on the contrary, what generosity and at the same time care on the part of the One who loves us! – He gave Himself for us, draining the wealth of His Divinity into our thinness, taking on our nature, and becoming a Man like us, deigning to become our Teacher; and Himself to teach us about the greatness of His love for mankind, revealing this in deed and word, and at the same time encouraging us to imitate His compassion for people and putting aside the uncompassionate disposition of the souls of those listening. Since the gift of love is inherent in the leaders of states, as well as in the shepherds of sheep, and also in the owners of their own property, but it is not as strong as in those related by flesh and blood, and especially among them - in fathers for their children, then He cites their love as an example of His love for mankind, calling Himself Man and the Father of us all: since He became Man for our sake and reborn us through divine baptism and the grace of His Divine Spirit. So, “a certain man,” He says, “had two sons”; Thus, the difference of character divided a single nature into two; just as the difference between virtue and sinfulness divided the multitude into two groups. And it happens among us that we say that one person is dual when it has a two-faced character, and, again, we say that sets represent one thing when they are in solidarity with each other. “Having begun, the youngest spoke to his father” - indeed “the youngest” (i.e., frivolous, immature), because he presented a youthful (frivolous) demand and full of recklessness; so the sin conceived by someone, giving rise to apostasy (from God), is newer in origin and a later birth of our evil will; and virtue is original, existing in God from eternity, and implanted in our souls from the beginning from God, as a consequence of grace. And having approached, it is said, the youngest son said to his father: “Give me a worthy part of the estate” (Luke 15:12). This is such recklessness: he did not kneel down, did not ask, but simply “said”, and not only this, but as if duty demands from the One who gives tuna to everyone: “Give me the part of the estate due to me, by law and justice, my share.” And what kind of law is this and how can it be fair for fathers to be debtors to their children?! On the contrary, of course, nature itself has shown that children are debtors to their fathers, as received life from them. But this behavior of his shows the immaturity of his thinking. What did He who sends rain on the just and the unjust, and He who commands the sun to shine on the bad and the good, do? – He divided them, they say, the means of living. Do you see that this Man and Father lacks nothing? - For someone else would not have divided it only into two and not only into two parts, but would have kept a third of the means of living for himself. But He, like God, as the Prophet David says, who does not need our blessings (Ps. 15:2), only these two sons, they say, divided the property, i.e. the whole world: for just as one nature is divided by different dispositions, so one world is divided by different uses. So, one says to God: “All day long I have lifted up my hands to You” (Ps. 87:10); and - “During the day of the seven days we praised Thee” (Ps. 119:164); and - “At midnight I rose to confess to You” (Ps. 119:62); and - “I cried out when I was in sorrow” (Ps. 119:1); and - “I trusted in Your words” (Ps. 119:42); and - “In the morning they beat all the sinners of the earth” (Ps. 100:8), - cut off all the desires of the flesh, driven towards pleasure. And the other spends the day in drunkenness and looks for where the drink will be, and spends the night in unworthy and lawless deeds, and is in a hurry to set up hidden traps or obvious malicious intent to steal money and evil plans. So, didn’t these (the two above-mentioned types of people) share one night and one sun, and first of all their own nature, using the same thing in completely different ways? God equally divided all creation among everyone, offering it for use according to the will of each. “And not for many days did my son gather everything, and depart for a far country” (Luke 15:13), says Christ. Why didn’t he leave immediately, but “after a few days”, i.e. after a few days? - Because the evil deceiver the devil does not immediately offer a person his own way of action (ιδιορρυθμιαν) and sin, but little by little he convinces us, whispering to us and saying: “And you, living with your own mind, without visiting the church of God and not heeding the teachings of the Church, can see on your own what needs to be done and not move away from good.” – When he separates someone from sacred services and from listening to sacred teachers, he thereby alienates him from Divine custody, betraying him to evil deeds. God is present everywhere, but the only thing that is far from good is evil, in which, finding ourselves because of sin, we move far away from God. “The wicked will not abide before Your eyes” (Ps. 5:6), David says to God. Thus, the youngest son withdrew (from his Father) and went to a country far away, “where you squander,” they say, “your property, living fornication.” How did he squander his property? – First of all, our property and wealth are our innate intelligence. As long as we adhere to the saving path, we have it focused in relation to ourselves and in relation to the First and Highest Mind - God; when we open the doors to passions, then immediately it is wasted, wandering around carnal and earthly things, around many types of pleasures and passionate thoughts associated with them. His wealth is common sense, which remains in him until then and distinguishes between good and evil, as long as he himself remains in the commandments and unity with God, obeying the Highest Father. If he throws off the bridle, then he is squandered on fornication and recklessness, squandered piecemeal on both evils. The same, look, applies to all our virtues and strength, which are, truly, our wealth, which, if under the influence of many forms of evil, succumbs to it, is squandered. For the mind by its nature extends its desire to the one and true God, the only good, the only desired, the only giver of pleasure, not mixed with any sorrow. When the mind weakens, then the spiritual power of true love deviates from this true worthy object of aspiration and is squandered on all kinds of desires for pleasure: sometimes it is squandered on the lust of unnecessary dishes, sometimes on the lust of immodest bodies, sometimes on the lust of useless things, and sometimes on the lust of vain and inglorious glory. And thus the unfortunate person is exchanged for small change, and bound by thoughts of this kind of things, and the sun itself, and the air, the common wealth for everyone, inhales and contemplates without pleasure. Our mind itself, which has not yet departed from God, arouses in us anger only against the devil and uses the courage of the soul to fight against bad passions, against the princes of darkness, against the spirits of evil. If he does not adhere to the divine commandments of the Lord who armed him, then he fights against his neighbors, rages against his fellow tribesmen, becomes enraged at those who do not express approval of his insane aspirations, and, alas, man becomes a murderer, becoming like not only senseless cattle, but also reptiles and poisonous animals, becoming a scorpion, a snake, the offspring of a viper. who was appointed to be among the sons of God. Do you see how he squandered and ruined his estate? “When he had outlived everything,” it is said, “(the youngest son) began to lose everything” (Luke 15:14). He began to starve, but had not yet turned his attention to conversion, because he was dissolute. That’s why: “And he went and clung to one of the inhabitants of that country: and he sent him into his villages to feed swine” (Luke 15:15). Who are the citizens and rulers of that country that is far from God? - Of course, demons, under whose power he, the son of the Heavenly Father, became the owner of the brothel, and the chief publican, and the ataman of the robbers, and the leader of the rebels: for every passion, due to extreme impurity, is called swine-like. Pigs are those who wallow in the mud of passions, and the youngest son became their leader, as superior to them in terms of self-pleasure, since he could not get enough of those pigs that they ate, i.e. cannot get enough of his passion. How is it that the nature of the flesh is not sufficient to serve the passions of the dissolute? – Gold or silver, having increased in a gold-loving or money-loving person, also brought an increase in lack, and no matter how much it was added, it also makes one want to crave it more; almost the whole world, and perhaps the whole world, will not be enough for one selfish and power-hungry person. Since there are many people of this type, and there is only one world, how is it possible for any of them to be satisfied with their passion? - That is why he, who had departed from God, could not be satisfied: for - “no one gave,” it is said, that he should be satisfied (Luke 15:16). And who would give it to him? - God was far away, only in the contemplation of Whom is there joyful satiation for the contemplator, according to what was said: “I will be satisfied when Thy glory is revealed” (Ps. 16:15). The devil does not want to allow a person to be satisfied with base lusts, since in souls prone to change, saturation usually produces a turning point in their attitude towards them. So, in fairness, no one allowed him to get enough. Only then, having come to his senses and realizing the plight he had found himself in, this son, who had broken away from his Father, mourned himself, saying: “Because my Father’s hired servants run out of bread, but I perish with famine” (Luke 15:17). Who are these mercenaries? - These are those who, for tears of repentance and humility, receive, as it were, some kind of payment - salvation. Sons are those who, out of love for Him, obey His commandments; just as the Lord says: “Whoever loves Me will keep My Word” (John 14:23). So, that youngest son, having lost his filial dignity, and of his own free will expelled himself from the sacred Fatherland, and fell into hunger, condemned himself, and humbled himself, and in repentance said: “I rise up and fall to the Father, and say: Father, those who have sinned in heaven and before You” (Luke 15:18). Rightly, at the beginning we said that this Father (in the parable of the Prodigal Son) is God; for how could he, the son who departed from his father, sin “against heaven” if it were not the Heavenly Father? So, he says: “I have sinned against heaven” - i.e. against the Saints in heaven, and whose dwelling is in heaven, - “and before You,” Who dwells with Your Saints in heaven. “And Thy son is no longer worthy to be called: make me as one of Thy hired servants” (Luke 15:19). It’s wonderful, adding in humility, he says: “Accept me,” for no one on his own enters the step leading to virtue, even if this was not without his free choice (will). “Rising,” they say, “I go to my Father. I am still far away from him...” (Luke 15:20). How should we understand that he “went” and at the same time “was far away”; why did his Father, taking pity, come out to meet him? - Because a repentant person from the heart, by having a good will and apostasy from sin, comes to God. But, being in the tyranny of an evil habit and bad concepts, he is still far from God; and in order for him to be saved, great mercy and help from above are needed. That is why the Father of Generosity, having descended, came out to meet him, embraced him, kissed him, and ordered the servants, i.e. priests, dress him in primary ceremonial clothing, i.e. the filial dignity with which he was previously invested through holy baptism; and give a ring to his hand, i.e. on the activity of the soul, the activity which is represented in the image of a hand, to impose the stamp of contemplative virtue, the guarantee of a future inheritance; He also orders shoes to be placed on his feet - Divine protection and firmness, giving him the strength to step on snakes and scorpions and all the forces of the enemy. Then he orders the fattened calf to be brought, slaughtered and offered for food. This Taurus is the Lord Himself, Who emerges from the hiddenness of the Divinity and from the throne that is above all, and as a Man, appearing on earth, as a Taurus is slain for us sinners, and as rich Bread is offered to us for food. In addition, God arranges a common joy and feast with His Saints, out of extreme love for mankind, perceiving what is characteristic of us and saying: “Come, let us eat and rejoice” (Luke 15:23). However, the eldest son is angry. I think that here Christ depicted the Jews, angry for the calling of the pagans, and the scribes and Pharisees, tempted by the fact that the Lord accepts sinners and eats with them. If you want to understand this in the sense that this is said regarding the righteous, then what is surprising if the righteous does not recognize the wealth of God’s mercy that surpasses all understanding? Therefore, the common Father consoles him and brings him to a consciousness of justice, saying to him: “You are always with Me” (Luke 15:31), participating in unchanging joy; “Be glad and rejoice as appropriate, because this brother of yours was dead, and is alive, and was lost, and is found” (Luke 15:32): he was dead because of sin; resurrected thanks to repentance; was lost because he was not in God; having been acquired, it fills the heavens with joy, according to what is written: “There will be joy in heaven for one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:7). What is it that is especially depressing for the eldest son? “As if,” he says, “you gave me no more kids of goats, but I rejoiced with my friends.” When this son of Thy, who had devoured Thy property with the fornicators, came, Thou didst slay the bullock for him to eat" (Luke 15:29-30): for the mercy of God towards us exceeds to such an extent that, as the coryphaeus of the Apostles Peter says, the Angels themselves wanted to enter into the grace assigned to us, which is given to us in His incarnation. But the righteous also wished that, because of these benefits, Christ would come ahead of time (set for the Incarnation), just as Abraham wished to see His day. But He did not come then; and when He came, He did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance, and especially for their sake He who took upon Himself the sin of the world was crucified; for grace abounded where sin abounded. And the fact that, despite the demands of the righteous, He did not give them any of the kids, i.e. from sinners, it is obvious to us, both on the basis of quite a few other examples, and especially from the vision of the sacred and blessed Carp 5 (Taken from the “Lives of the Saints” in Russian, book 2. Moscow. Synod. Printing house, pp. 83–5). In the same story placed in the Prologue, the words of the Savior St. Karpu are expressed even more strongly and menacingly than in the above Russian edition, and this is probably what St. Gregory Palamas has in mind. Let us quote them from the Prologue, translating into Russian: “Jesus said to Karp, stretching out his hand: “Behold, beat Me!” I am ready to be crucified many times over for the salvation of people, and this is more pleasing to Me than for people to sin. But look: do you want to be in the abyss with the serpent (who, like you, hates and wants to destroy sinful people), instead of being in heaven and together with the (human-loving) God and the human-loving and good Angels? "" (Prologue. Book 2, sheet 170. St. Petersburg. Sin. Typ. 1896). . For he, cursing some bad people and saying that it was not fair for the lawless and the corrupters of God’s right ways to continue to live, was not only not heard, but also experienced God’s displeasure and heard some trembling words, leading to the knowledge of the ineffable and mind-transcending forbearance of God, and convincing them not to curse people living in sin, because God still gives them time for repentance. So, the God of penitents and the Father of generosity, in order to show this and, moreover, to imagine that He bestows great and enviable gifts on those who are converted through repentance, thus set out this parable. Therefore, brothers, let us, through works of repentance, pull ourselves together and part with the evil one and his cattle; let us separate ourselves from the pigs and the horns that feed them, i.e. vile passions and those devoted to them; let us retreat from bad pasture, i.e. from an evil skill; we flee from the land of passions, which is unbelief, gluttony and immoderation, in which lies a severe hunger for good and a suffering state worse than hunger; as a father to the Father of immortality, the Giver of life, walking, through virtues, the path of life; for there we will find Him coming to meet us and giving us the permission of our sins, a sign of immortality, a pledge of a future inheritance. So the prodigal son, as we learn from the Savior, throughout his stay in the land of passions, although he pondered and even uttered words of repentance, he did not receive any benefit from this, until, leaving all those deeds of sin, he ran to the Father. And (then) having received that which exceeded his hope, he, of course, remained in humility for the remainder of his life, living chastely and righteously and preserving intact the grace renewed in him, which may we also receive and preserve intact, so that in the next century we may rejoice together with the saved prodigal son in the Jerusalem above, the Mother of all living, the Church of the firstborn, in Christ the Lord Himself ours, to whom be glory forever. Amen. PG.151:32–48. Homilia III. In parabolam Domini de salute Filii prodigi. Referring to the vision that St. Carp had in briefly outlining its essence, St. Gregory Palamas had in mind the following story, which is placed in the Prologue under the 17th day of May in the Lives of the Saints: “St. Dionysius the Areopagite, in his letter to the monk Demophilus, written for the purpose of instruction in meekness and gentleness, recalls such an event. “I had to,” he says, “when visiting the island of Crete, to stay in the house of the blessed Carp, a disciple of St. Apostle Paul. This man was great in his virtues and was distinguished by such sublime purity of mind that he had a great ability for visions of God: he never even began to completely the Most Pure and Life-Giving Mysteries until he was worthy of a Divine vision appearing to him from heaven. This holy man, as he himself told St. Dionysius, was saddened by one of the unbelievers. The reason for the sadness was that an unbeliever seduced one of the believers from the church to his wickedness. Blessed Karp was greatly upset by this circumstance. He should, of course, remain patient and constantly exhort those who have fallen from the faith with useful words, and conquer the unfaithful with his complacency; it would be necessary to earnestly pray to the Lord, so that He would again turn those who have turned to wickedness to His holy Church and enlighten those who remain in the darkness of unbelief with the light of faith. But, having never shown impatience in anything before, Karp this time was very much upset in his soul. Late in the evening, when midnight was approaching, he stood up to pray. He always used to get up at midnight and pray. – While standing in prayer, he could not overcome the feeling of intense grief that the two people mentioned inflicted on him. It began to seem to him that these lawless people, corrupting the right ways of the Lord, unjustly remained to live on earth; and he began to pray to God that fire would fall from heaven on them and burn them both. As he was praying about this, suddenly the upper room in which he stood shook and parted from above into two, so that it seemed to him that he was standing in the courtyard, and a bright fiery flame fell towards him from the sky. Looking up, he saw the open sky and Jesus Christ sitting in it, surrounded by countless angels in human form. Then, looking down, he saw the earth disintegrating and a deep dark abyss in it; On the edge of the abyss stood those two people whom Karp, in anger, asked for death from God. They stood with prayer in their eyes and with great fear and trembling, for they were close to falling into the abyss; and in that abyss the serpent groveled, gnashing its teeth. There were some other people here who beat, pushed and dragged those two sinners towards the terrible serpent. Karp, seeing that those who saddened him were ready to fall into the abyss and be eaten by the serpent, was filled with great joy, and not so much did Karp look at the open sky and at Jesus Christ sitting in it, but at the imminent death of these two sinners. But since they did not fall into the abyss, Karp again began to be annoyed and grieved, and again began to pray to God that they would fall and die. When he raised his eyes to heaven as before, he saw that Jesus Christ, rising from the heavenly throne, approached these people who were standing on the edge of the abyss, and gave them a helping hand; the angels supported those people and... strengthening them, they distracted them from the abyss. Christ said to Karp: “Why do you wish the destruction of your brothers?” – Imitate Me and do not desire the death of a sinner, for I am ready to suffer again for the salvation of people, if only people would turn from their evil ways and hate their sins. Bringing this story in his letter to the mentioned monk Demophilus, St. Dionysius teaches with it that we should not be cruel to those who sin, and would wish for them not punishment, but repentance and their conversion - so that we earnestly pray for such to God, who does not want the death of sinners, so that He Himself, by His grace, would convert and have mercy on them, for He loves the righteous, but also has mercy on sinners. Glory to the Lord forever. Amen"_ You might be interested in: