A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF REPENTANCE

FRIDAY OF FIRST WEEK OF LENT

Ezek 18:21-28; Ps 130; Mt 5:20-26

The Inner Dynamics of Repentance

The readings lead us to consider the deeper meaning of repentance from sins. As we already know, sin originates from a lack of faith in the word of God and subsequent disobedience to his divine will. Since God and his word are the same, the rejection of his word is a rejection of God. Thus, a sinner has not the presence of God in his heart. He has no spiritual life, which only the presence of the Holy Spirit can confer. In the absence of God, the self occupies the throne of God in a sinful soul. The spiritual dead state of a sinner gradually manifests in the culture of death that defines his life. The gradual deepening of darkness in a sinful lifestyle ending in eternal death is what God speaks about through the prophet Ezekiel. “But if the upright man renounces his integrity, commits sin, copies the wicked man and practises every kind of filth, is he to live? All the integrity he has practised shall be forgotten from then on; but this is because he himself has broken faith and committed sin, and for this he shall die.” Spiritual life consists of active and dynamic operations. We described this earlier in the week as a yearning for God, which is the root of our prayer and spirituality. The original and innate desire for God supports virtuous activities and lifestyles, which start with the yearning.

Subsequently, the very source of the death of the sinner is the cessation of the spiritual yearning for God, who is our life. On the other hand, repentance, which we have considered as an act received from the word of God in faith, restarts our souls’ spiritual yearning for God. Listening to the word of God with faith makes it resound in the depth of our souls to reawaken our innate yearning for God in prayer. The reawakening of our spiritual yearning is a divine act comparable to raising a dead man. The sinner who is spiritually dead is raised again to spiritual life by the word of God that is spirit and life. “If the wicked man renounces all the sins he has committed, respects my laws, and is law-abiding and honest, he will certainly live; he will not die. “All the sins he committed will be forgotten from then on; he shall live because of the integrity he has practised.” The fact that a virtuous man can die spiritually and a sinful and spiritually dead man can live again is clear from these considerations. What intrigues us, as it did the Israelites who heard this prophecy, is that God forgets the sins of the converted sinner and the good acts of the upright man who falls into sin. But this follows from our understanding of sin as a state of a soul expressed in its operations. Once the soul acquires spiritual life in union with the Holy Spirit, it ceases to sin, at least mortally, and lives unto God. It needs only struggle with the sinful habits left behind by sin.

A soul can feign religious conversion, but his daily expression in words and behaviour reveals the truth. There is no spiritual life without faith in the word of God, which brings God to live in us. Our Lord teaches this when he says: “If your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.” If God is not living in our souls now, we cannot live in his kingdom later. We explained charity as God working through us to spread his love and providence to all. We manifest the presence of God within us in everything we do, especially in our relationship with others, which must be motivated by charity. The incarnation of the Eternal Word has made this indwelling possible and made it possible to obey the commandments of God in spirit and truth. His cleansing blood has purified our hearts to love our neighbours with the love of God. The Lord raised the standard beyond ordinary human ability based on the spiritual fortification he provided. “You have learnt how it was said to our ancestors: You must not kill; and if anyone does kill, he must answer for it before the court. But I say this to you: anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it before the court.” God has offered us his life; to continue in our ways is to reject God’s heavenly offer. So, any offering we make to God that does not represent our total self is unacceptable. The Christian life is a vocation to the perfection of charity.

Let us pray: Grant that your faithful, O Lord, we pray, may be so conformed to the paschal observances, that the bodily discipline now solemnly begun may bear fruit in the souls of all. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.