66. Отец твой давно тебя ждет. Не медли!

It happens that a man to another man, who has been separated from his father and is delaying, says this: “Your father has been waiting for you for a long time, why are you delaying here?” So the prophets, apostles, shepherds and church teachers to every sinner who, at Holy Baptism, came to the Heavenly Father and was numbered among His household saints of God, but then separated from Him through a lawless and corrupt life, and as if went to a distant country, they say and admonish him: “The Heavenly Father has been waiting for you for a long time. Why are you, poor sinner, hesitating in this lawless country and harmful distance? The property given to you - you have lost. You are deprived of your daily food. A destructive famine has befallen you. Having left your merciful and benevolent Father, you fell into slavery to an evil and merciless tormentor, grazing his dumb and unclean cattle, pigs. And with such hard and vile work, you have nothing to satisfy your belly with. And you have already reached such a point that you desire and look for the horns on which pigs feed, but no one gives you such poor and last food. You see for yourself what misfortune, poverty and wretchedness you are in! What poverty from what wealth have you fallen into! What vileness have you fallen into from such a high honor! What great bliss you have lost and what great misfortune you have fallen into! All this happened to you because you arbitrarily separated yourself from your good and gracious Father, from His house, the holy family. All abundance flows and is given to everyone who lives in His house - but you are deprived of everything! There everyone lives in every prosperity by the grace of their Merciful Father - but you find yourself in every calamity! There, everyone gets enough food to eat and cools off with drink - you’re dying of hunger! There, the benevolent Father has enough sweet food and beneficial drink for all His household - but you have reached such poverty that you want to fill your belly with the horns that pigs eat, but no one gives you even those! There everyone in the house rests in peace under the protection of their Merciful Father - you are here among unclean cattle, a pig! Everyone there dresses in good clothes - but you are covered in torn and stinking rubbish, like some kind of deprived person! Everyone there is consoled - you complain. Everyone is happy there, but you are crying. Everyone is having fun there, but you are grieving and sad. Everyone eats and drinks there in abundance - but you are deprived of everything. Oh, into what grave misfortune have you come, you who were in honor, glory, wealth, abundance, peace, rest and in all bliss, living under your gracious and most merciful Father! Such words and admonitions are often heard by the lost son, but he hesitates in his disastrous excommunication. The gracious Father waits and often looks for His lost son to come to Him. But the son does not have such a thought and heart to return to his Father again. The Father wants to show him mercy, but the son does not care about His mercy. The Father wants to accept him again as a son and give him an inheritance, but the son does not want to come to his Father. The Father wants to make him a participant in His bliss, but the son does not understand this. The Father and His family are waiting for him to come to His house, but the son hesitates, just as he delayed in his lawless exile and in a destructive country. He wishes better to be with an evil tormentor than with his good and benevolent Father. He would rather be covered with stinking and vile rags than to wear good clothes from his Father. He would rather satisfy his belly with pig food and horns than to enjoy the blessings of his Father’s house. He wants to be in a poorer state than to be in bliss. O goodness, O compassion of the Father, Who does not despise, does not forget, does not reject a son who has absented himself without permission and angered Him with an evil disposition, but with great desire waits for His lost son to return to Him! O blindness, oh insensibility of the son, who prefers to be in a foreign country in extreme misery, rather than return to his Father and be in His house and be in all prosperity! O poor son, come to your senses, leave this lawless and destructive country! Remember the compassion of your Father, remember His many bounties! You have angered Him, but He does not take His mercy from you. You have moved away from Him, but He is waiting for you to come to Himself and wants to accept you. Remember what an abundance of goods there is in your Father’s house, “how many of your Father’s hired servants have an abundance of bread, but you are dying of hunger!” (Luke 15:17) Rise, return to your Father. You have squandered His wealth, do not be afraid! He is gracious, long-suffering and abundantly merciful. He will not remember your willfulness, he will not reprimand you for your actions that are contrary to Him. He is generous and rich, he will enrich you again. Rising, go boldly to your Father, and, falling before His merciful eyes, admit your guilt, and tell Him with contrition and pity of heart: “Father! I have sinned against heaven and before You, and am no longer worthy to be called Your son; make me one of your hired servants" (Luke 15:18-19). He awaits you with great desire and will receive you with joy. As soon as he sees you returning, even from afar, he will mercifully and kindly look at you, take pity, His merciful womb will be crushed for your sake, and His mercy will have mercy on you. "Oh! My dear child, the lost child, returns to Me. My son, who was separated from Me, comes to Me again: “My son was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found. ...I will have mercy on him” (Luke 15:24, Jer.31:20). I will come out to meet him, embrace him with My arms, and kiss him.” Truly, while you are still far away, your Father will see you and have compassion; and, running, he will fall on your neck and kiss you, and will lead you into his house and give you the best robe, and he will dress you in it, and a ring on your hand, and boots for your feet, and he will command all his holy family to rejoice and be glad for you, saying: “this son of mine was dead and is alive, he was lost and is found.” And they will begin to rejoice over you (See Luke 15:13–24). “There is joy among the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). The more diligently you repent and correct yourself, and change for the better, the sooner you will go and draw closer to the Heavenly Father. For we come to Him not with our feet, but with our hearts, not by a change of place, but by a change of will and morals. Just as through sins we separate ourselves from Him and move away, so through true repentance, correction and a change in our will and morals for the better we draw closer to Him. Turn, my soul, to your Heavenly Father and you will receive peace and your bliss from Him. “How many of my Father’s hired servants have bread to spare, but I die of hunger; I will get up and go to my Father and say to Him: Father! I have sinned against heaven and before You and am no longer worthy to be called Your son; accept me as one of Your hired servants!” You might be interested in: