Archimandrite Nektarios Antonopoulos
We usually think of sin as the breaking of some law or the failure to fulfil some duty toward God and neighbour. But it is a deeper thing. The essence of sin is best expressed by one of the Gospel parables. The prodigal son does not simply break some law; he rises up against his own father and imperiously demands his inheritance, and as soon as he receives his portion he at once leaves his father's house. From this comes one definition of sin: the moment he sins, a man runs from the Heavenly Father and cuts himself off from the Church, from the family of God. He no longer shares in the joy of God's house... So sin is not only lawlessness and a breach of the divine law, but also that which separates and estranges a man from God and the Church.
In a far country the prodigal son wasted his father's substance, that is, squandered the gift of God. Rebellion, flight from the Church, estrangement, the squandering of an inborn gift, a dissolute life — this is the path of sin.
God loves every person; our sins do not change His nature. As a result of sin it is first of all we ourselves who bring various misfortunes on our own heads and torment ourselves; we flee from life and hasten toward death, for the wages of sin is death. In every case sin leads us to self-destruction. It is a dangerous sickness of the soul, brought about not by “the wrath of God” but by our own free choice. It is a sickness that leads us to death. That is why in the Gospel parable the father calls his son “dead.” It turns out that the consequences and fruits of sin are most bitter. But this sorrow, bitterness, anguish and suffering, which are the inevitable companions of sin, can also do us good. They force us to stop at the edge of the ruinous abyss and to realize in what a terrible state we are. That is just what happened to the prodigal son. The path of repentance
The Fathers of the Church call repentance a “second baptism,” a “renewal of baptism.” Through the Mystery of Baptism we enter the Church and set out on the path that leads to the Kingdom of God. Through the second baptism — repentance, through its tears, a man can wash himself clean of sin; the fallen can rise, be healed of his wounds and continue on the path to the Lord.
Sadly, many do not know what repentance is, what its essence is, what we ought to repent of. Repentance is not some juridical procedure that frees a man from the feeling of guilt. It is not a formal confession, which we make mostly before the great feasts. The path trodden by the prodigal son bears witness to something quite different. The very word “repentance” in Greek means a radical change of a man's being, his new birth, a change of mind, a change of life, a rejection of sin with all one's heart. In other words, we must realize with our whole being that the path of sin we have walked until now is leading us to perdition. We must understand that, having gone far from our native hearth, we have ended up in some swamp. We must stop and say: “Where are we going? What madness! Our father has a splendid palace where everything delights the eye, and where are we rushing off to?” We must find the firmness in ourselves to return to our native home, to God the Father and to our brethren.
For our repentance to be true, we must carry it out in deed. The hieromartyr Kosmas of Aetolia says: “Even if all the priests, bishops, patriarchs and the whole world forgive you, you will still not be forgiven unless you repent in deed.” That is, if we do not turn away from sin and change our life, our repentance cannot be true. Many people weighed down by psychological or other heavy problems go to their spiritual father fully ready, confess with tears and promise never to return to sin again, to change their life and so on. But how deep will such a confession be? It must not be limited to an emotional outburst. Time is needed, labour, the acquiring of virtues, struggle with sin and the help of the grace of God.
At such a time repentance goes on in a man's soul hiddenly, mysteriously. Just as “...a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear” (Mark 4:26–28).
As we have already said, repentance is impossible without the grace of God. A man who dwells in the darkness of sin and does not understand how beautiful life in the Lord is cannot sense the difference between the sinful life of this world and the holy life of the Church. Only when the grace of God sows the seed of divine love in his heart will he be able to see his spiritual poverty. The light of the sun, entering a dark room, lights up everything. So too the grace of God reveals the emptiness of our soul, lays bare our passions, our sins. That is why the saints begged the Lord with such zeal: “Grant me perfect repentance.” True repentance is the sure path that leads us to the Kingdom of God.
