On the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, His Eminence Metropolitan Vladimir celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Nativity of the Lord Cathedral in Chisinau.
The arch-pastor was assisted at the service by archpriest Vadim Cheibas, Metropolitan Secretary and Cathedral Dean, and a synaxis of priests and deacons of the Cathedral.
This Sunday preparing for the Great Lent is called in the universal Orthodox Church the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, when the according fragment is read out from the Gospel (Luke 15, 11-32).
Today’s Gospel Reading prepares the church-goers for the Great Lent, calling us to think about the spiritual loss we suffer when, like the prodigal son, we abandon our Heavenly Father to live in selfish passion. However, living in the far country, if we come to ourselves as the prodigal son finally did, and return to the God’s way, coming back to the Church in repentance and fervent desire to change our mind and way of living, we are always welcomed by God, who is a Loving Father of all creation.
The following Sunday is of the Dreadful Judgment, when the Christians exclude meat from their meals, gradually entering into the Lent.
Synodal Sector of Institutional Communication and Mass-Media Relations