Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee by His Eminence Metropolitan Panteleimon of Antinoes

It was very characteristic of our Lord Jesus Christ that in order to teach the Divine Truth, He used examples taken from the daily life of His times. In this way He was able to help those who believed in Him to apply the Divine Truth in their own lives.

In the Parable of today's Gospel, our Lord showed us two different types of men, who both went up to the Temple to pray. He also mentioned a very significant point, their different religious and social class. The first was a Pharisee and the second a Publican.

Now, amongst the Jews of the time, there were different religious parties. The most important of these were the Pharisees, who were strict observer of the Law of Moses; the Sadducees who believed that there is no resurrection; the Ninevees, who were dedicated to God, and the Essenes, who were ascetics.

The Pharasees boasted that they followed the Law of Moses literally. They wore special clothes and could always be easily recognised in a crowd of people. Το use the words of our Lord, "they do all their deeds to be seen by men; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honour at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues, and salutations in the marketplace, and being called rabbi by men" (Matt. 23:5-7). They separated themselves from the rest of the people, believing themselves to be the just in the Eyes of God. The Publican on the other hand, belonged to a group who were hated and despised by rich and poor alike.

Repentance: The Sunday of the Prodigal Son by St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov)

Beloved brethren! The Holy Church, the loving mother of all her children, who gave them birth unto salvation, and takes upon herself all care to ensure that her children not lose their inheritance—Heaven, preparing them for the successful completion of the forthcoming podvig of the Forty Days Fast, has ordained that we read today at the Divine Liturgy the parable of our Lord Jesus Christ about the prodigal son.

    

In what does the podvig of the holy Forty Days Fast consist? In the podvig of repentance. During these days, we stand before the time dedicated largely to repentance, as before the doors of repentance, and sing the song that is filled with contrite feeling: Open unto me the doors of repentance, O Giver of life! What does our Lord’s Gospel parable that we hear today reveal to us? It reveals the unfathomable, infinite mercy of our Heavenly Father for sinners who bring forth repentance. The Lord made it known to people, calling them to repentance: Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth (Lk. 15:10). So that His words would become even more strongly impressed in the hearts of His listeners, He decided to supplement them with a parable.

A certain man had two sons, says the Gospel parable. The younger of them asked his father to give him his share of the inheritance. The father did so. After not many days, the younger son took his inheritance and left for a far country, where he spent all his inheritance on a wanton life. When he had spent it all, there came a famine on that country. The son of the rich man not only found himself wanting, but was in a desperate state. In this serious plight, he asked assistance from one of the local inhabitants, who sent him to the field to herd his swine. Exhausted with hunger, the wretch would have been happy to fill his belly with the coarsest swine feed! But this turned out to be impossible. In such a state, he finally came to his senses, and remembering the abundance of his father’s house, resolved to return to his father. He prepared mentally what he would say to his father in order to gain his propitiation: he would admit his sin and his unworthiness, and humbly ask to be accepted, not into his father’s family, but as one of his host of slaves and hired servants.