"He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with the Lord," but "he who is joined to a harlot," that is, to the nature of demons, "becomes one body with her" (1 Cor. 6:17, 16), becoming entirely flesh and having no place within himself for the Spirit, like those who lived in the days of the flood (Gen. 6:3). "The citizens of that country," far from God, are without doubt demons.
Lk. 15:15. And he sent him into his fields to feed swine;
Having succeeded and become strong in wickedness, he "feeds swine," that is, he teaches others wickedness and a filthy life as well. For all who find pleasure in the mire of shameful deeds and material passions are swine. The eyes of swine can never look upward, having such a strange structure. This is why those who tend swine, if, having caught a pig, they cannot for a long time stop its squealing, bend its head backward and in this way reduce its squealing. Just as a person who has come upon such a spectacle as he has never seen before, when he raises his eyes (to the scene), is struck and falls silent, so the eyes of those who are raised in evil never see what is above. These are the ones fed by him who surpasses many in wickedness, such as: keepers of harlots, leaders of robbers, and publicans. For of all such people it can be said that they feed swine.
Lk. 15:16. And he would gladly have filled his belly with the husks that the swine ate, but no one gave him anything.
This wretched one "desires to be filled" with sin, but no one gives him this satiation. For one accustomed to evil finds no satiation in it. Pleasure is inconstant, but as it comes, it departs at the same time, and this wretched one is again left with emptiness (in his soul). For sin is like "husks," having both sweetness and bitterness: it sweetens for a time, but torments forever. No one will give satiation of evil to the one who delights in it. And indeed, who will give him satiation and rest? God? But He is not with him; for one who feeds on evil goes far from God. Demons? But how will they give it, when they especially strive for there to never be rest or satiation from evil?
Lk. 15:17. Coming to himself,
With time the prodigal came to himself. For as long as he lived dissolutely, he was outside himself. It is said that he squandered his substance, and rightly so: therefore he is outside himself. For whoever is not governed by reason, but lives as one without reason and drives others to unreason, that one is outside himself, and will not remain with his substance, that is, with his reason. But when someone considers what calamity he has fallen into, then he comes to himself through reflection and turning from outward wandering to repentance.
Lk. 15:17. He said: How many hired servants of my father have bread in abundance, while I am dying of hunger;
By "hired servants" he probably means the catechumens, who, as not yet illumined, have not yet managed to become sons. And the catechumens, without doubt, are satisfied with spiritual bread in abundance, hearing the readings every day. And so that you may know the difference between a hired servant and a son, listen. There are three classes of those being saved. Some, as slaves, do good out of fear of judgment. David hints at this when he says: "My flesh trembles for fear of You, and I am afraid of Your judgments" (Ps. 118:120). Others are hired servants; these, it seems, are those who strive to please God out of a desire to receive good, as the same David says: "I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes forever, to the very end" (Ps. 118:112). And the third are sons, that is, those who keep God's commandments out of love for God, of which again the same David testifies: "Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day" (Ps. 118:97). And again: "I shall stretch out my hands to Your commandments, which I have loved" (Ps. 118:48), and not "which I have feared." And further: "Your testimonies are wonderful," and since they are wonderful, "therefore my soul keeps them" (Ps. 118:129). So then, when one who was in the class of sons, but afterwards through sin lost his sonship, sees that others enjoy Divine gifts, partake of the Divine Mysteries and of the Divine bread (and by the name "hired servants" one may understand not only the catechumens, but also in general members of the church who are not in the first rank); then he ought to say to himself these words of regret: "How many hired servants of my father have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger."
Lk. 15:18. I will arise,
That is, from the fall of sin.
Lk. 15:18. I will go to my father and say to him: Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you.
Having left the heavenly, I sinned against it, preferring to it a contemptible pleasure, and instead of heaven, my homeland, choosing rather a land of famine. For just as one, so to speak, sins against gold who prefers lead to it, so one sins against heaven who prefers earthly things to it. For he, without a doubt, departs from the path leading to heaven. And note that when he was sinning, he committed sin as though not before God, but when he repents, he feels himself to have sinned before God.
Lk. 15:19. And am no longer worthy to be called your son; accept me as one of your hired servants.
Lk. 15:20. He arose and went to his father.
We must not only desire what is pleasing to God, but also carry it out in actual deed.
Lk. 15:20. And when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
Lk. 15:21. And the son said to him: Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.
You have now seen the warm repentance; behold also the father's compassion. He does not wait for the son to reach him, but himself hastens to meet him and embraces him. For being Father by nature, God is also Father by goodness. He wholly embraces the whole son, so as to unite him with Himself from every side, as it is said: "and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard" (Isa. 58:8). Before, when the son was himself withdrawing, it was also time for the father to withdraw from the embrace. But when the son drew near through prayer and conversion, then it became fitting to embrace him as well. The father "fell on his neck," showing that the neck, formerly disobedient, had now become obedient, and "kissed him," signifying reconciliation and sanctifying the mouth of the one formerly defiled, as a kind of vestibule, and through it sending sanctification inward as well.
Lk. 15:22. But the father said to his servants: bring the best robe and put it on him,
By "servants" you can understand Angels, since they are ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those worthy of salvation (Heb. 1:14). For they clothe the one turning from wickedness in the "best robe," that is, either in the former robe of incorruption which we wore before sin, or in a robe better than all others, such as the robe of baptism. For it is the first to be put on me, and through it I take off the garment of indecency. By "servants" you can also understand Angels because they minister in all that is accomplished for our sake, and because we are sanctified through their mediation. By "servants" you can also understand priests, since they clothe the one who turns through baptism and the word of teaching and put on him the first robe, that is, Christ Himself. For all of us who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Gal. 3:27).
Lk. 15:22. Give a ring for his hand.
And He gives "a ring for his hand," that is, the seal of Christianity, which we receive through deeds. For the hand is a sign of activity, and the ring is a sign of a seal. Thus, one who has been baptized, and in general one who turns away from wickedness, must have on his hand, that is, upon his entire active power, the seal and mark of a Christian, so that he may show how he has been renewed according to the image of his Creator. Or alternatively: by "ring" you may understand the pledge of the Spirit. I would put it this way: God will give the most perfect blessings when their time comes, but now, as an assurance, as it were in the form of a pledge of future blessings, He gives us gifts of this kind: to some the gift of working miracles, to others the gift of teaching, and to others some other gift. Receiving these gifts, we firmly hope for the attainment of the most perfect ones as well.
Lk. 15:22. And shoes on his feet;
Sandals are given "for the feet" so that they may be preserved both from scorpions, that is, from sins seemingly small and hidden, as David says (Ps. 19:12), yet nonetheless deadly, and from serpents, considered obviously harmful, that is, from sins. And in another way: to the one deemed worthy of the first robe, sandals are given as a sign that God makes him ready to preach the gospel and to serve for the benefit of others. For the distinguishing quality of a Christian is to be useful to others.