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Sunday of the Prodigal Son
"We bless You, 0 Father eternal of Your only begotten Son, whom You have sent for the return of the lost sheep. Turn us also from sin through the passion of Your Son." (Sharagan for the Third Sunday.)
The Sunday of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:1-32) gives us a Biblical case history of a proud man, who sets off blithely, taking his inheritance with him. He cannot manage on his own and ends up in poverty and desolation, envying pigs for their food. When he comes to his senses and says, "I will arise and go to my father," he sounds a Lenten rallying cry for all of us. In his shame over his sin he only expects to be received as a servant, no longer a son. But the father (Our Father) receives him with the fullness of love that only the gracious, bountiful Lord can give.
The older brother is not so gracious. He resents the young ingrate's easy reacceptance. The father reassures him that "everything I have is yours. But it was only right we should celebrate and rejoice, for your brother was dead and he come to life; he was lost and is found." Do not begrudge God's mercy to another.
The other readings call us back to our Father (Isaiah 54:11-55:13, II Corinthians 6:1-18.)
Sundays during Lent
The Sundays of Lent are guideposts in our journey to Easter. They take us through the history of God's relationship with us, from creation to today. Each Sunday has a theme and a sharagan, or hymn, explaining the theology of the theme. The Bible readings for each Sunday tell us what we should be doing at each stage of our Lenten life.
Sunday 3 |