SUNDAY OF THE PRODIGAL SON - The Sunday after
the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee is the
Sunday of the Prodigal Son, the third Sunday befor Lent. This parable of God's forgiveness calls us to
come to ourselves as did the prodigal son, to see ourselves as being
"in a far country" far from the Father's house, and to make the journey of return to God. We are given every assurance by the Master that our heavenly Father will receive us with joy and gladness. We must only
"arise and go," confessing our self-inflicted and sinful separation from that
"home" where we truly belong
(Luke 15:11-24).
After the Polyeleion at Matins, we first hear the lenten hymn
"By the Waters of Babylon." It will be sung for the next two Sundays before Lent begins, and it serves to reinforce the theme of exile in today's Gospel.
