The Mystery of Repentance-Great lent & Me | By: Fr. Bishoy Kamel

Repentance is feeling the divine love; and each time you sense its infinity, you keep tasting its sweetness and enjoy its sublimity. Therefore, you begin to detach yourself from your ego. God’s love is love that immerses the whole world and you realize this with each soul joining in repentance; it is like a collective joy. The Lord earnestly seeks each lost soul and he gave examples in the three parables in chapter fifteen of the Gospel of St. Luke:

1- The Lost Sheep
When he found the lost sheep he rejoiced and carried it on his shoulders saying that angels in Heaven also rejoiced. The angels watch the Lord’s children and share in the joy. You see, it is not a joy only for God but also for his angels.

2- The Lost Coin
In the parable of the Lost Coin, the joy extended to neighbors and friends “Come, share my joy, I found my lost coin.”

3- The Prodigal Son
In the parable of the Prodigal Son, when the elder son came from outside and heard the noises of singing and rejoicing, he asked what was happening and was informed that his younger brother had returned and they had sacrificed a fatted calf in his honor. When he reproached his father, he told him “ son, we ought to rejoice because your brother was dead and now he is alive, he was lost and now he is found.”