The Prodigal Son and our journey back to the father’s house

Eastern and Western Christians celebrate Easter on different dates, and that means that our lenten schedules don’t mesh either. Orthodox Christians are just now wading into the season, and today is the second of several pre-lenten commemorations, the Sunday of the Prodigal Son. The church points us to Jesus’ parable to remind us that we are all on a journey back to the father. Here’s the story retold in the 1977 feature, Jesus of Nazareth:

That same year, 1977, Christian musician Keith Green began recording songs that would become his Prodigal Son album. Released posthumously in 1983, the record featured an amazing twelve-minute song called “The Prodigal Son Suite,” a dramatization of (or perhaps a midrash on) the story of the Prodigal. Here it is in full:

Thanks to Met. Savas Zembillas for pointing out the Jesus of Nazareth clip.