Sunday, March 3, 2013

Sunday of the Prodigal Son

Photo: Having squandered the riches of the fatherly gift, I, wretched one, grazed with the dumb beasts. I desired their food and hungered; for I had not enough. Wherefore, I shall return to the compassionate Father, crying with tears: Receive me as one of Thy servants, as I kneel to Thy love for mankind, and save me. -Doxasticon on the Aposticha, Vespers of Sunday of the Prodigal Son


I have been one Momma on a Mission this week!

For some reason I just feel this intense inner pressure to make Lent meaningful for my girls.  Along with that I am getting anxious about the long and plentiful services during the Lent season.  I have wonderful daughters, but you can only test their patience so much!  We love having our kids with us in worship, despite the hard work it takes.  We usually do not allow "entertainment" for our older girls, other than a kids version of the Liturgy to follow.  They are expected to stand and participate with us, or sit quietly.  Knowing that this will be not only a test of my endurance, but very much so theirs, I am compiling an activity book for them to work on during Lent.  It has coloring pages and activities for the themes presented during Lent.  (I have included some helpful links at the end of this post, so keep reading!)  Luckily, most of the hard work has been done for me, but I still feel this pressure to have things laid out and planned in advance in order to make this season as stress-free as possible.  All the while, trying not to be like the older brother in the parable of the Prodigal Son.....



Did you like that segue???

Last week we were guided to focus on humility, this week the theme is Repentance.

The parable of the Prodigal Son can be found in Luke 15:11-32.  There are two sons with their father.  The younger son, even though his dad was still living, asked for his inheritance and went off to spend it, while the older son stayed and worked for his father.  The younger son had a blast and quickly spent all of his money.  He ended up working for a farm caring for pigs.  He was so hungry he was going to eat pig slop... Then he realized that his father's servants lived better, so he decided to go back to his father, beg for forgiveness and ask for work.  While he was still a ways off, his father ran to him, rejoiced, cleaned him up and threw him a party.  That did not go well for his older brother.  He had done everything right and he never got a party!  His father corrected his thinking, reminding him to rejoice because his son was lost and had now been found.

What a love story!  God is standing there, looking out for us, waiting for us to Repent.  And then when we do...He runs to us! 

While that is so comforting, I admit I can probably relate more to the older brother.  I like following the rules.  They are in place for a reason.  Don't give me a rule and expect me not to follow it.  And then if we all have the same rules...we must all be following them, the same way or it doesn't count!  Then I get prideful because I can follow the rules better than others can.....

Oh dear!  Double fail!  No humility and definitely a need for repentance!

The theme for this week is placed here for a reason.  If we make it all about following the rules, we are completely missing the mark.  Like the Prodigal, it would be better to blow it during Lent and then repent than it would be to be like the older brother and follow all the rules, but completely miss the point!  Vassilios Papavassiliou says in his book Meditations for Great Lent, "The purpose of Lent is to return to God, not simply to change our diet."  It's not about the rules, it's a return to God.

I love the beauty of the connection between humility and repentance.  Our Priest pointed out in class this morning that you can't have one without the other.  "The way to be humble is to continually repent," he said. You cannot repent unless you are humble enough to admit your mistakes. 

I can already tell I am going to be doing a lot of repenting in the weeks to come! 

I am thankful for a loving God who is looking out so that He can run to me when I finally make my way back home!




Here are some of the helpful links that I found as I have been compiling workbooks and activities for my girls this Lenten season.

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