Tag: <span>Repentance</span>

March 6, 2021February 19, 2021

Can You Spare Some Change

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

There are two sins that are at particular risk of never finding forgiveness. The first is despair; the second, presumption.

When we despair, we determine for ourselves that we are beyond the reach of Jesus’ salvation. We are in such a bad state, we think, that we cannot be saved. Thus, through a lack of trust in the power of God, we effectively reject our salvation.

When we are presumptuous, we believe that any sins on our part will be forgiven even if we do not repent and convert. God is merciful, we think, so we can remain in our sin without concern.

Despair and presumption display a common characteristic–a very nasty one: Attachment to one’s state of sin. He who despairs and he who is presumptuous both spurn Jesus’ invitation to conversion.

Today’s readings are all about what happens when a sinful soul eschews these two tendencies, and returns full of humility and self-awareness, but also hope and trust, to the Lord.

The souls in today’s readings are ready to change. Hoping for something brand new, they detach themselves from their current state of sinfulness.

Lent is all about this detachment, this conversion. Conversion is not an achievement, but rather a grace, one that we do well to request in prayer immersed in self-awareness and trust in God’s ability to change us.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus for the grace of a wholly renewed conversion during this lent. Ask Him to jar you out of your haze of complacency, out of any presumption you may be experiencing, and on to a new level of union with Him.

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February 24, 2021February 9, 2021

From Ashes to Exuberance

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

Repentance–the theme of today’s readings–is not in fashion. Not even in Christian circles.

People come to Church to feel better about themselves. And, as congregations gradually diminish, pastors scramble to meet this need.

The entire topic of salvation, therefore, is also at an all-time low in popularity in the Church. Often, it does not even come up, because the topic itself implies a risk of not being saved. When it does arise, the context is often the assumption that, because God is merciful, most people reach heaven because down deep they are “good.”

The truth is, as we see in today’s readings, while God’s unconditional love is a true and lasting foundation for personal security, part of His love is His demand that we be the best that we can be. And the Church teaches that eternal salvation depends on our embracing that demand and striving to meet it, by means of the all-powerful grace that Jesus won for us on the Cross.

Repentance appears to contrast with joy, and with personal security. On the contrary, full acceptance of ourselves in the reality of what we are as sinners, without excuses or cheap escapes, forms part of the very basis of personal security. The other part is the knowledge that the omnipotent God is investing all His resources, including great personal sacrifice, to bring us up out of sin and into the relationship of His love. We can’t do it; He can.

The quest for salvation through transformation in grace is what makes Christianity exciting, breathtaking, full of hope. The knowledge that through prayer and offered sacrifice we can “stack the deck” for others to reach their salvation in Christ is immensely consoling.

A life lived in a spirit of repentance is a life lived joyfully, courageously, realistically, and filled with hope.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Tell the Lord about some of your sins, and how you repent of them; tell Him how hard it is to avoid them. Full of absolute trust, ask Him to take charge of the process of your repentance and transformation; lovingly place your life, your future, and your eternal salvation in His hands.

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February 17, 2021February 2, 2021

Even Now

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

Lent strikes us as a dreary time, and with good reason. We make sacrifices, spend more time in prayer, and give more alms to the poor–none of this is fun.

So, we would expect today’s readings to tell us essentially to buck up, to brace ourselves, to jump into the cold water of sacrifice and purification.

The first reading, however, which is all about fasting and repenting, is full of joy. It would appear, even, that the weeping mentioned is not driven by sorrow, but rather the people are weeping out of relief and hope.

“Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart,” is how the first reading begins. Even now. The people have been procrastinating that return. The context of the reading suggests that they are thinking they may be too late to repent. But the prophet assures them that it is not too late. Even now, if they turn back to Him, God will have mercy on them.

We are weak human beings, full of sinfulness and selfishness. Like Judas, we have sold Jesus for thirty pieces of silver–we have chosen sin over Him for some silly, passing satisfaction that makes no sense in the greater scheme of things.

Yet even now, at whatever age we find ourselves, even if our prior attempts at conversion have been half-hearted, even now, He is waiting to forgive us and transform us, if we return to Him with all our heart.

Lent is not a dreary season. It is another chance, even now, to convert our hearts fully to the Lord.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to help you to take advantage of this Lent, every single day of it. Ask Him to show you your sins and give you a repentant heart. Tell Him that you want Him in your life above every single other priority, and that He has carte blanche to manage your life as He sees fit–even if this means that you will go through some suffering for your own good and that of others.

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February 4, 2021January 22, 2021

Party Invitation: We Must RSVP

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

The first reading from the letter to the Hebrews contrasts the experience of God in the Old Testament, which was at times terrifying, and the experience of God after Christ’s redemption, which is one of glorious rejoicing. The latter has superseded the former because, as the reading says, of “the sprinkled Blood that speaks more eloquently
than that of Abel.”

Still, we see in the Gospel that the Christian era hasn’t turned the awe-inspiring God whose sight terrified Moses into anything close to a milquetoast divinity. Jesus does not send the twelve out two by two to preach affirmation, but rather repentance. And if any town does not accept their message, they are to shake that town’s dust off their feet as a testimony against it.

Jesus’s good news about the Kingdom of God, and His own sacrifice, is a new lease on life, and opens us to an intimate, joyous, fearless relationship with our awesome God. But throughout the gospels, His response to those who do not welcome this message is not, “There, there, it does not matter. I understand that you have issues.” Rather, He meets those who reject His message with stern warnings.

Jesus’ life, death, and Resurrection have utterly revolutionized the possibilities for our relationship with God, and our access to Him. His act is one of colossal mercy. But this mercy is not to be confused with indifference to human choices, or removal of all their consequences.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Pray ardently for “sinners,” that is, those who defy God, that He may penetrate the wall of their obstinacy and show them the immense treasure that they are missing. Ask Him to convert the sinner, rouse the indifferent, strengthen the weak, and enlighten the confused. Ask Him to leverage the simple gift of yourself and your life as a token allowing Him to exert influence over the freedom of your brothers and sisters.

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