Ukrainian Catholic ChurchAustralia, New Zealand and Oceania
Homily by Fr. Taras Gorpynyak on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son
February 15, 2025
In today’s parable, our Saviour Jesus Christ shows us an example of true and sincere repentance. When a sinner sincerely repents of his sins and chooses the right path before God, he will always be welcomed and embraced by his Heavenly Father.
for this your brother was dead, and is alive;
he was lost, and is found.” (Luke 15:32)
Glory to Jesus Christ!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
In today’s parable, our Saviour Jesus Christ shows us an example of true and sincere repentance. The parable clearly teaches us that no matter how deeply a sinner falls, he must not lose hope in God’s great mercy. When a sinner sincerely repents of his sins and chooses the right path before God, he will always be welcomed and embraced by his Heavenly Father.
This parable is about each of us. Every time we commit a sin, we follow the path of the younger son.
Everything we have in our lives—our talents, health—is not truly ours. These are gifts from God, given to us to be used for the benefit of others and for the glory of God. If we use these gifts only for ourselves, we imitate the actions of the younger son.
Today’s parable also invites us to reflect on the fact that after committing a sin, returning to our Heavenly Father requires repentance and a firm resolution to change our lives. To do this, we must examine our lives and look deeply within ourselves.
The most important lesson in the parable of the Prodigal Son is that God, who is portrayed as the father in this story, looks at us with the eyes of a loving father, not with the eyes of the older son, when He sees us leaving the land of sin. What matters to Him is our desire to be with Him.
