“Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” (Luke 15:18).

In the blessed Great Lent, we usually start with a vow, a promise, or a lifestyle change, but sometimes we don’t think about the end. What is that good and perfect goal? What is it that we are trying to achieve? We sometimes find ourselves so deep in our headspace that we don’t realize our path. Whenever we start something, we should always think of the end, and at the end of the Great Lent, we look towards Pascha, the holiest week of the year. The week that leads us to the Resurrection.

In the parable of the Prodigal Son, when he asked for his father’s inheritance, he stated much more than what he said. He essentially said his father was dead to him. He believed the father had nothing to offer but wanted to spend his inheritance and his free will, as the church fathers explained in their sermons. This saying is common to us today: "I keep trying to live a holy life, and the others always seem to do well without it. I wish I didn’t have to do all these things for God, nothing changes anyway. Everyone else wouldn’t even think twice about doing this or that, why should I?” The Prodigal Son is not content with what he had with the father. Our heavenly Father in this parable was not hesitant to give His son the free will to leave. He spent his free will on the world's vain pleasures, a godless lifestyle, and an empty end that ended with becoming a beggar.

Within us, we have a life that is covered, hidden, and under a basket. This hidden life that we are truly called to live is the Kingdom of heaven within us; constantly, our Lord is waiting on the door of our hearts. With each beat knocking, like a good father, He never stops with His boundless patience and humility. When the devil whispers despair, doubt, or self-pity we must return to our hearts and know Him, who is truly present. In our hearts, like the prodigal son, it is easy to desert Him with the vanity of imagination for the life we wish to have or for our situation to change. Contentment is with the Lord, the living water, who quenches the thirst of the soul that longs for her Creator. Let us remember that the Lord himself is our portion and that through repentance and returning to Him, he gives us the robe of baptism, the ring of citizenship in heaven, and the sandals of walking in the light of the gospel.