Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
(Isaiah 55:6-7)
What meaning for us have those themes of the Lord’s parables? Is not the fact that a woman has lost a drachma, and seeks it and finds it, and invites her female friends to share her joy, an example of a restored sinner?* There strays one little ewe of the shepherd’s, but the flock was not more dear than the one. That one is earnestly sought; the one is longed for instead of all, and at length she is found and carried back on the shoulders of the shepherd himself. For much had she suffered in straying.† That most gentle father, likewise, I will not pass over in silence, who calls his prodigal son home, and willingly receives him repentant after his destitute state; then slays his best fatted calf, and celebrates his joy with a banquet.‡ Why not? He had found the son whom he had lost; he had felt him to be all the dearer whom he had gained back.
Who is that father to be understood by us to be? God, surely: no one is so truly a Father. No one so rich in paternal love. He, then, will receive you, his own son, back, even if you have squandered what you had received from Him, even if you return naked—just because you have returned. He will rejoice more over your return than over the self-control of the other; but only if you heartily repent—if you compare your own hunger with the plenty of your Father’s servants, if you leave behind you the swine, that unclean herd—if you again seek your Father, offended though he be, saying, "I have sinned, nor am worthy any longer to be called yours." Confession of sins lightens, as much as concealment aggravates them, for confession is counseled by satisfaction, concealment by impenitence.
* Luke 15:8-10
† Luke 15:3-7
‡ Luke 15:11-32
let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
(Isaiah 55:6-7)
What meaning for us have those themes of the Lord’s parables? Is not the fact that a woman has lost a drachma, and seeks it and finds it, and invites her female friends to share her joy, an example of a restored sinner?* There strays one little ewe of the shepherd’s, but the flock was not more dear than the one. That one is earnestly sought; the one is longed for instead of all, and at length she is found and carried back on the shoulders of the shepherd himself. For much had she suffered in straying.† That most gentle father, likewise, I will not pass over in silence, who calls his prodigal son home, and willingly receives him repentant after his destitute state; then slays his best fatted calf, and celebrates his joy with a banquet.‡ Why not? He had found the son whom he had lost; he had felt him to be all the dearer whom he had gained back.
Who is that father to be understood by us to be? God, surely: no one is so truly a Father. No one so rich in paternal love. He, then, will receive you, his own son, back, even if you have squandered what you had received from Him, even if you return naked—just because you have returned. He will rejoice more over your return than over the self-control of the other; but only if you heartily repent—if you compare your own hunger with the plenty of your Father’s servants, if you leave behind you the swine, that unclean herd—if you again seek your Father, offended though he be, saying, "I have sinned, nor am worthy any longer to be called yours." Confession of sins lightens, as much as concealment aggravates them, for confession is counseled by satisfaction, concealment by impenitence.
Tertullian, On Repentance 8
* Luke 15:8-10
† Luke 15:3-7
‡ Luke 15:11-32
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