Sermons & Homilies
Today we go to the beginning. The Fall of our first parents is presented to us to remind us of the Paradise we lost. From breaking seemingly “the least of these commandments” Adam and Eve wrought unspeakable destruction upon themselves and all their posterity. In their own life they witnessed envy, fratricide and apostasy. The cancer of sin has only metastasized since then into every form of evil unimaginable and unspeakable.
The parable of the Prodigal Son is the most touching and poignant image of the Christian life of repentance. That is why the Fathers chose this parable to frame the service of monastic tonsure. Because monastic life is the Christian life of repentance in its fulness and perfection. For those of us whom God has vouchsafed the mystery of monastic tonsure, it is impossible to hear the troparion for this day without a feeling of deep compunction.
“Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” With these words our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ begins His public ministry. “Repent” is the word the Church gives us at the beginning of the year. This Gospel is placed here not just because it takes place chronologically after Christ’s baptism (which we are still celebrating), but also because it signals the approach of Lent.
