1. We are all "Prodigals". We have all lost our inheritance. We are all fallen away from our true selves. We have all wasted our energy on things that don't pay off in the end. But, the hope of "Return to the Father's House" is always open. We are encouraged to repent -- and God WILL receive us back!
2. Every day we have opportunities to be magnanimous, "great of soul" -- to emulate God -- to be like "the loving Father" who never rails against those who have fallen, but loves them so much that he is ANXIOUS to see their return to goodness. Let us emulate the Father's goodness and be generous of soul to all!
3. Let us emulate the older brother's "constancy in the Father's service", but BEWARE NEVER to emulate his disgruntled attitude towards his younger, fallen brother. We cannot be so heartless! We cannot ever afford to judge our neighbour.
We must, instead, be like God and his angels and saints - we must always HOPE FOR and AWAIT, and WORK TOWARDS, not only our own repentance and correction of life, but also the repentance of those around us, never losing hope for ourselves, or for our neighbour, and never being "small of soul".
We must be generous and giving. We must be a source of unconditional love.
We must always offer a truly eager embrace -- we must always be like God!
Wishing all a Good Forty-day Fast,
Archimandrite Maximos
Brotherhood of the Holy Cross
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