“Only the gospel of Christ fully knows the mystery of sin and the
problem of sin and everything which hides within it.
The prodigal son of
the Gospel is the perfect example of the repentant sinner. The Gospel
shows us that man, through his free will, can share his life with Earth
and with Heaven, with Satan and with God, with paradise and with hell.
Sin gradually strips man of everything divine in him, paralyzes his
every divine inclination and desire, until it finally throws him into
the bosom of Satan. And then man reaches the plight of grazing the swine
of his master, the Devil. The swine are passions, which are always
greedy and gluttonous. In such a life, the unfortunate man is nothing
more than insane. In a shocking parable of the Gospel, the Lord says
about the prodigal son, ‘he came to himself,’ (Luke 15:17) How did he
come to himself? He came to himself through repentance. Through sin, man
becomes mad, insane. Every sin, even the most seemingly insignificant
one, is always an insanity of the soul. Through repentance, man comes to
his senses becomes complete again, comes to himself. Then he cries out
loud to God, runs to Him, and cries towards Heaven, ‘Father, I have
sinned against Heaven, and in thy sight’ (Luke 15:21). And what is the
heavenly Father doing? He is always infinitely merciful upon seeing His
child in a state of repentance. He has compassion for him, runs,
embraces him, and kisses him. He orders His heavenly hosts, the holy
angels: ‘Bring forth the best robe and put it on him; and put a ring on
his hand, and shoes on his feet: and bring hither the fatted calf, and
kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: for this is My son who was dead,
and is alive again; and he was lost, and is found. And they began to be
merry.’ (Luke 16:22-24) And this is taking place for each and every one
of us, and for the sake of every sinner who repents. Namely, joy and
happiness is taking place in the heaven of the All-merciful Lord and
God, and together with Him, all of the holy angels.”
+ St. Justin Popovich, From the preface to the book of Fr. Justin, Sinful Souls, Belgrade, 1968; quoted from Orthodox Faith & Life in Christ
, “Select Writings of Fr. Justin”
, “Select Writings of Fr. Justin”
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