WEBVTT

1
00:00:04.599 --> 00:00:08.880
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Hill Country Homilies. Weekly homilies from Holy Annunciation

2
00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:13.400
<v Speaker 1>Orthodox Church in Liberty Hill, Texas. Holy Annunciation is an

3
00:00:13.400 --> 00:00:17.239
<v Speaker 1>old calendar Orthodox church sharing the faith of the Apostles

4
00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:20.519
<v Speaker 1>and the love of Christ with all who seek His truth. Now,

5
00:00:20.600 --> 00:00:22.320
<v Speaker 1>let's listen to this week's homily.

6
00:00:27.079 --> 00:00:28.800
<v Speaker 2>The Name of the Father and Son the Holy Spirit

7
00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:35.960
<v Speaker 2>Gord to Jesus Christ. Set if you wish, my beloved

8
00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:43.840
<v Speaker 2>brothers and sisters in Christ. This second Triodean Sunday, we

9
00:00:44.600 --> 00:00:49.719
<v Speaker 2>hear the gospel parable of the Prodigal Son. I'm not

10
00:00:49.719 --> 00:00:53.119
<v Speaker 2>gonna lie. This parable may be my favorite parable to

11
00:00:53.200 --> 00:00:56.000
<v Speaker 2>preach on, because there's just so much in it that

12
00:00:56.039 --> 00:01:00.320
<v Speaker 2>we can work with. It follows very nicely, the parable

13
00:01:00.439 --> 00:01:03.960
<v Speaker 2>the Publican and the Pharisee is. If last Sunday calls

14
00:01:04.040 --> 00:01:08.799
<v Speaker 2>us to humility, this Sunday calls us to act on

15
00:01:08.920 --> 00:01:15.000
<v Speaker 2>our humility by turning it into repentance to our father.

16
00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:21.239
<v Speaker 2>In this parable, the younger son of Prodigal demands his

17
00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:24.879
<v Speaker 2>inheritance from his father early, and we're told that he

18
00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:29.000
<v Speaker 2>goes into a far country where he squanders the entirety

19
00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:33.480
<v Speaker 2>of his inheritance with reckless and licentious living. And he

20
00:01:33.519 --> 00:01:38.599
<v Speaker 2>finds himself desperately alone and on the brink of death

21
00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:43.400
<v Speaker 2>from hunger and facing that, he turns homeward, And as

22
00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:47.159
<v Speaker 2>he comes, his father doesn't wait for an apology, but

23
00:01:47.239 --> 00:01:50.920
<v Speaker 2>he runs out to embrace him and restores him his

24
00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:54.599
<v Speaker 2>prior dignity with his robe in his ring and a

25
00:01:54.680 --> 00:02:00.000
<v Speaker 2>grand celebration. And meanwhile, the older brother, who faithfully served

26
00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:03.680
<v Speaker 2>his father for all those years, is filled with resentment

27
00:02:03.719 --> 00:02:08.000
<v Speaker 2>at the reception that his brother is received. And this

28
00:02:08.120 --> 00:02:11.960
<v Speaker 2>parable challenges us on many levels to examine our own hearts.

29
00:02:11.960 --> 00:02:16.000
<v Speaker 2>Are we the younger brother who needs to humble himself

30
00:02:16.120 --> 00:02:19.080
<v Speaker 2>and repentance and return home? Are we the older brother

31
00:02:19.919 --> 00:02:23.439
<v Speaker 2>whose devoted service to the father has driven us to

32
00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:26.400
<v Speaker 2>hatred or envy of those that do not serve in

33
00:02:26.439 --> 00:02:32.960
<v Speaker 2>the same way. Now, in understanding this parable, in examining ourselves,

34
00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:36.039
<v Speaker 2>I want to start a place that is a little

35
00:02:36.120 --> 00:02:38.879
<v Speaker 2>different than where we usually start. Usually when we talk

36
00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:42.400
<v Speaker 2>about this parable, we start with the youngest son demanding

37
00:02:42.400 --> 00:02:47.000
<v Speaker 2>his inheritance from his still living father, a most presumptuous act,

38
00:02:47.039 --> 00:02:50.680
<v Speaker 2>to be sure, and we would talk about how the

39
00:02:50.759 --> 00:02:54.800
<v Speaker 2>church fathers understood this demand that was basically his own

40
00:02:54.879 --> 00:02:57.479
<v Speaker 2>free will, that he demanded, so that he would proceed

41
00:02:57.520 --> 00:03:01.960
<v Speaker 2>to waste that great gift abundantly. But I wanted to

42
00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:05.159
<v Speaker 2>start instead at what happened once he received his portion

43
00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:09.159
<v Speaker 2>of his inheritance, because we are told that after receiving

44
00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:13.120
<v Speaker 2>his inheritance not many days later, the younger son gathered

45
00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:18.120
<v Speaker 2>everything together and took his journey into a far country.

46
00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:21.800
<v Speaker 2>And read this, I think there's kind of this intuitive idea.

47
00:03:22.439 --> 00:03:24.719
<v Speaker 2>The son's about to go live in a way that

48
00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:30.479
<v Speaker 2>his father will greatly disapprove of, and so he removes

49
00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:34.719
<v Speaker 2>himself far, far away, far from his view. And we

50
00:03:34.759 --> 00:03:37.639
<v Speaker 2>read this and with it there's this sense of distance

51
00:03:38.360 --> 00:03:41.280
<v Speaker 2>that's created by him going to the far country. But

52
00:03:41.479 --> 00:03:46.319
<v Speaker 2>that's a little bit of a dangerous misunderstanding of this

53
00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:51.599
<v Speaker 2>parable because the fathers tell us that when the scripture

54
00:03:51.639 --> 00:03:54.240
<v Speaker 2>says he goes to the far country, they's not talking

55
00:03:54.840 --> 00:03:59.599
<v Speaker 2>about geographic distance. They're not talking about a physical separation.

56
00:03:59.719 --> 00:04:04.000
<v Speaker 2>But the fathers tell us, as Euthemius the Great said,

57
00:04:04.439 --> 00:04:09.159
<v Speaker 2>the younger son's journey is not a separation of place,

58
00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:14.439
<v Speaker 2>but by separation in point of virtue. That is, the

59
00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:18.920
<v Speaker 2>youngest son's journey is the same journey each of us

60
00:04:19.079 --> 00:04:25.319
<v Speaker 2>undertake when we choose to sin, because sin separates us

61
00:04:25.360 --> 00:04:29.160
<v Speaker 2>from God. Not in terms of proximity, though it might

62
00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:31.879
<v Speaker 2>be helpful to think of it that way, but in

63
00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:36.720
<v Speaker 2>the sense that our sin necessarily removes us from union

64
00:04:36.759 --> 00:04:40.480
<v Speaker 2>with God, because God can have no union with that

65
00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:45.920
<v Speaker 2>which is not pure. This separation, whether it's millimeters or miles,

66
00:04:45.959 --> 00:04:49.879
<v Speaker 2>in a physical sense, is grievous from the beginning, because

67
00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:55.000
<v Speaker 2>it is the spiritual separation of man and God. Saint

68
00:04:55.079 --> 00:04:59.360
<v Speaker 2>Augustine said, the far country is forgetfulness of God, a

69
00:04:59.399 --> 00:05:04.079
<v Speaker 2>forgetful which is mutual. For inasmuch as the sinner forgets God,

70
00:05:04.600 --> 00:05:07.879
<v Speaker 2>God in his turn, is in a manner forgetful of

71
00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:11.680
<v Speaker 2>the sinner. The far country is more than distance. It

72
00:05:11.720 --> 00:05:17.480
<v Speaker 2>is a spiritual alienation from God. Today, we don't need

73
00:05:17.519 --> 00:05:22.000
<v Speaker 2>to even physically leave our house to enter the far country.

74
00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:25.920
<v Speaker 2>We enter it every time we prefer our smartphones to prayer,

75
00:05:25.959 --> 00:05:31.360
<v Speaker 2>every time we chase fleeting pleasures while neglecting the divine services.

76
00:05:31.399 --> 00:05:35.000
<v Speaker 2>Every time we measure our worth by social media our

77
00:05:35.240 --> 00:05:38.480
<v Speaker 2>likes rather than our standing before God. In our culture

78
00:05:38.519 --> 00:05:43.360
<v Speaker 2>of instant gratification and digital distraction, we're constantly feeding on

79
00:05:43.399 --> 00:05:50.199
<v Speaker 2>those empty husks of entertainment, consumerism, virtual relationships while starving

80
00:05:50.240 --> 00:05:56.040
<v Speaker 2>ourselves spiritually. Yet even here in this self imposed exile,

81
00:05:56.920 --> 00:06:03.720
<v Speaker 2>Christ waits when removes himself from the providential care of God.

82
00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:07.439
<v Speaker 2>By our wilful separation from him, we find ourselves in

83
00:06:07.480 --> 00:06:10.759
<v Speaker 2>the same positions the prodigal. We live a life of

84
00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:15.000
<v Speaker 2>waste and consumption as we live bereast of the grace

85
00:06:15.399 --> 00:06:19.959
<v Speaker 2>that God has prepared for us. But these are self

86
00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:23.240
<v Speaker 2>willed wounds that we suffer, and because they are of

87
00:06:23.319 --> 00:06:26.680
<v Speaker 2>our own doing, that same will permits us that permitted

88
00:06:26.759 --> 00:06:29.839
<v Speaker 2>us to turn away from God can bring us back

89
00:06:30.279 --> 00:06:34.800
<v Speaker 2>in repentance. And the first step home is recognizing that

90
00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:38.839
<v Speaker 2>we have wandered away, because in these days and in

91
00:06:38.879 --> 00:06:44.040
<v Speaker 2>this place we can suffer severe spiritual malnourishment, even as

92
00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:48.319
<v Speaker 2>we live in material abundance. Now, brothers and sisters, if

93
00:06:48.319 --> 00:06:51.879
<v Speaker 2>we can rouse ourselves from our spiritual separation from God,

94
00:06:52.480 --> 00:06:55.399
<v Speaker 2>then this is where we reap the good news of

95
00:06:55.439 --> 00:06:58.920
<v Speaker 2>the Parable. Because in the Parable we see the younger

96
00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:02.839
<v Speaker 2>son came to the resation that he's dying outside of

97
00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:06.519
<v Speaker 2>life with his father. We're told that he came to himself,

98
00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:10.639
<v Speaker 2>that he saw his true human state, and he realized

99
00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:13.720
<v Speaker 2>what he had to do, and he struggles with this,

100
00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:16.439
<v Speaker 2>He struggles with the words that he's going to say

101
00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:20.160
<v Speaker 2>and the position he's going to ask to subjugate himself

102
00:07:20.199 --> 00:07:24.120
<v Speaker 2>to just to live again in the care of his father.

103
00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:27.160
<v Speaker 2>And he's willing to trade his position for that of

104
00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:30.240
<v Speaker 2>a servant. And probably every last one of us knows

105
00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:33.000
<v Speaker 2>that feeling of when we have to drag ourselves to

106
00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:36.319
<v Speaker 2>our parents and confess some great error or wrong that

107
00:07:36.439 --> 00:07:40.720
<v Speaker 2>we've committed. Worrying, dread, anxiety, all those filled the moments

108
00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:45.600
<v Speaker 2>before that meeting. But here we see that as the

109
00:07:45.639 --> 00:07:48.920
<v Speaker 2>prodigal journey's home, and while he is still a great

110
00:07:48.920 --> 00:07:52.959
<v Speaker 2>way off, his father saw him and had compassion. He ran,

111
00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:55.519
<v Speaker 2>and he fell on his neck that as he put

112
00:07:55.600 --> 00:07:58.000
<v Speaker 2>himself on his face before him, and he kissed him.

113
00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:03.399
<v Speaker 2>The reception the prodigal had not so much has dared

114
00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:07.360
<v Speaker 2>to hope for. And consider how truly remarkable this green

115
00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:10.639
<v Speaker 2>is because in those times, in that culture, elderly men

116
00:08:11.079 --> 00:08:14.319
<v Speaker 2>of status did not run. It was considered as shameful

117
00:08:14.319 --> 00:08:19.079
<v Speaker 2>and undignified. Yet the father runs to the son, abandoning

118
00:08:19.160 --> 00:08:23.560
<v Speaker 2>all propriety. This is the overflowing bounty of God's love.

119
00:08:23.639 --> 00:08:27.000
<v Speaker 2>He doesn't wait for us to complete our repentance, to

120
00:08:27.079 --> 00:08:30.680
<v Speaker 2>polish up our confession, or to prove ourselves worthy of

121
00:08:30.720 --> 00:08:33.840
<v Speaker 2>his mercy. He rushes towards us while we're still a

122
00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:36.919
<v Speaker 2>great way off, and he heals us with his love.

123
00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:40.919
<v Speaker 2>Saint Gregory of Nissa says that the Father is reconciled

124
00:08:40.919 --> 00:08:44.320
<v Speaker 2>to the prodigal as soon as he resolved to repent.

125
00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:49.080
<v Speaker 2>This kind of unconditional love is almost foreign to our

126
00:08:49.080 --> 00:08:53.879
<v Speaker 2>modern culture. We see things as earned, as deserved, as merited.

127
00:08:54.639 --> 00:08:58.240
<v Speaker 2>We see w wars being conditioned based on performance, on appearance,

128
00:08:58.799 --> 00:09:02.799
<v Speaker 2>or on utility, and it's easy, albeit dangerous, to bring

129
00:09:02.879 --> 00:09:06.840
<v Speaker 2>that same approach to our spiritual life. We can fall

130
00:09:06.840 --> 00:09:09.919
<v Speaker 2>into things that we must earn God's mercy through enough

131
00:09:09.960 --> 00:09:15.480
<v Speaker 2>prostrations or perfect fasting or eloquent prayers. But the Gospel

132
00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:20.600
<v Speaker 2>shatters that kind of idea. God's love isn't a reward

133
00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:23.679
<v Speaker 2>for the righteous, it isn't a gift to the perfect,

134
00:09:24.919 --> 00:09:30.240
<v Speaker 2>but it is free to the broken, and we don't

135
00:09:30.279 --> 00:09:34.200
<v Speaker 2>earn it. No sooner did that prodigal turn his face

136
00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:38.200
<v Speaker 2>toward the Father than he was fully enveloped in the

137
00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:42.120
<v Speaker 2>love he had for him from the beginning. And it's

138
00:09:42.200 --> 00:09:45.200
<v Speaker 2>not only the unconditional love of the Father that we

139
00:09:45.320 --> 00:09:49.159
<v Speaker 2>take hope in, but also the unlimited forgiveness that he offers.

140
00:09:49.679 --> 00:09:52.519
<v Speaker 2>The prodigal had wasted his life in the most heinous

141
00:09:52.519 --> 00:09:56.320
<v Speaker 2>and licentious of sins, and he did that after first

142
00:09:56.399 --> 00:09:59.720
<v Speaker 2>turning his back on the Father. Insult added to injury,

143
00:09:59.759 --> 00:10:02.919
<v Speaker 2>as it were. But as soon as he began his

144
00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:09.799
<v Speaker 2>journey of repentance, the Father was already receiving him with joy.

145
00:10:10.799 --> 00:10:13.000
<v Speaker 2>This should be a great comfort to us all. There's

146
00:10:13.039 --> 00:10:19.240
<v Speaker 2>no shame in returning to confession after months or years away. Remember,

147
00:10:19.320 --> 00:10:24.519
<v Speaker 2>the Father is already running towards you. Your return doesn't

148
00:10:24.559 --> 00:10:30.399
<v Speaker 2>depend on your worthiness, but on his relentless love for mankind.

149
00:10:30.720 --> 00:10:33.480
<v Speaker 2>And if you think your sins are too great for God,

150
00:10:33.840 --> 00:10:37.480
<v Speaker 2>it was parable, says Otherwise. Believing our sins to be

151
00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:43.120
<v Speaker 2>unforgivable is the height of pride. How can we for

152
00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:47.879
<v Speaker 2>a moment consider that our son is so great that

153
00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:53.480
<v Speaker 2>they can overcome the omnipotent God. If any sin is

154
00:10:53.559 --> 00:10:58.600
<v Speaker 2>truly unforgivable, then the person forgiving it or being asked

155
00:10:58.639 --> 00:11:05.159
<v Speaker 2>forgiveness cannot be God God, because sin can never overcome God.

156
00:11:06.879 --> 00:11:11.720
<v Speaker 2>Those kind of thoughts become a self important delusion. Nothing

157
00:11:12.039 --> 00:11:14.919
<v Speaker 2>that we have done is so horrible that it puts

158
00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:19.080
<v Speaker 2>us out of the reach of God's forgiveness. And finally,

159
00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:21.759
<v Speaker 2>I want to say a word about the older brother.

160
00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:25.440
<v Speaker 2>I like to mention because I think we're always in

161
00:11:25.799 --> 00:11:28.360
<v Speaker 2>as much danger of being the older brother as we

162
00:11:28.440 --> 00:11:32.480
<v Speaker 2>are of being the prodigal. The older brother was such

163
00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:37.720
<v Speaker 2>a good and faithful servant. Imagine the heartbreak the father

164
00:11:37.879 --> 00:11:41.360
<v Speaker 2>suffered at the younger brother's leaving. The older brother was

165
00:11:41.399 --> 00:11:43.679
<v Speaker 2>sitting there bearing it with him the whole time, and

166
00:11:43.799 --> 00:11:48.279
<v Speaker 2>patience and co suffering. And when the younger brother returned

167
00:11:48.279 --> 00:11:52.600
<v Speaker 2>and was received with joy, the older brother cracked. Years

168
00:11:52.600 --> 00:11:57.120
<v Speaker 2>of service and devotion bubbled out in envy and anger,

169
00:11:57.440 --> 00:12:00.159
<v Speaker 2>and he tells the Father, these many years I served you,

170
00:12:00.440 --> 00:12:02.879
<v Speaker 2>and you never gave me a kid to make merry

171
00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:07.559
<v Speaker 2>with my friends. Here, the older brother represents the subtle

172
00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:13.440
<v Speaker 2>danger of religious pride, serving God while resenting others, keeping

173
00:12:13.480 --> 00:12:17.919
<v Speaker 2>the rules but losing love. He never left home, but

174
00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:20.879
<v Speaker 2>his heart drifted away from the father as well. He

175
00:12:20.919 --> 00:12:25.519
<v Speaker 2>saw his relationship with God as a transaction. I served,

176
00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:30.559
<v Speaker 2>therefore I deserve. He couldn't celebrate his brother's return because

177
00:12:30.600 --> 00:12:34.399
<v Speaker 2>he measured everything by merit, not mercy, and in this

178
00:12:34.559 --> 00:12:39.840
<v Speaker 2>way he too became a prodigal. As Orthodox Christians, especially

179
00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:43.279
<v Speaker 2>as we prepare to enter into great lent, we can

180
00:12:43.320 --> 00:12:47.000
<v Speaker 2>fall into this trap. We maintain the traditions, we fast strictly,

181
00:12:47.039 --> 00:12:51.039
<v Speaker 2>we attend services, yet we become judgmental towards those who

182
00:12:51.080 --> 00:12:54.600
<v Speaker 2>are struggling or those who fall away. We can become

183
00:12:54.679 --> 00:12:57.320
<v Speaker 2>so proud of our practice that we lose sight of

184
00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:01.080
<v Speaker 2>our love for one another. We see a sinner return

185
00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:04.000
<v Speaker 2>to the church, we must rejoice like the Father, rather

186
00:13:04.039 --> 00:13:07.399
<v Speaker 2>than grumble and judge like the older brother. It's true.

187
00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:10.440
<v Speaker 2>Orthodoxy is far more than the practices of the faith.

188
00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:14.519
<v Speaker 2>It's embodying the very heart of the Father, weeping with

189
00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:18.080
<v Speaker 2>those who weep, and rejoicing when the loss are found.

190
00:13:18.919 --> 00:13:22.000
<v Speaker 2>Whether our brothers come at the first hour at the last,

191
00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:25.679
<v Speaker 2>whether they've fallen away and returned, or entered for the

192
00:13:25.720 --> 00:13:28.480
<v Speaker 2>first time into the House of our Lord. May God

193
00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:32.080
<v Speaker 2>grant to each of us the peace, love, and discernment

194
00:13:32.159 --> 00:13:35.639
<v Speaker 2>to celebrate with joy each soul that turns to God.

195
00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:38.440
<v Speaker 2>May He grant us humility in our own struggle and

196
00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:41.080
<v Speaker 2>an abundance of his grace as we prepare ourselves for

197
00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:43.879
<v Speaker 2>the coming Linden season, and may we trust in the

198
00:13:43.879 --> 00:13:46.960
<v Speaker 2>great forgiveness of our fathers. We undertake our own repentance

199
00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:50.039
<v Speaker 2>in the name of the Father and Son the Holy Spirit. Amen,

200
00:13:50.159 --> 00:13:51.320
<v Speaker 2>God to Jesus Christ.

201
00:13:57.960 --> 00:14:01.600
<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening to Hill Country homble plea. For more information,

202
00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:08.159
<v Speaker 1>visit Holy Annunciation Orthodox Church at www dot Denunciation, TX

203
00:14:08.279 --> 00:14:11.279
<v Speaker 1>dot com and please join us again next week.