Repent, For One And For All Series

Third Sunday of Easter 2024

Late in his life, St. John the Apostle wrote three letters from his exile to churches he directed in Asia, now a part of Turkey. He wants his Church families to live holy lives, and has spent his entire life to encourage other Christians in this mode. And he tells us here that the straightforward way to do that is to adopt the holy thought and habits of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. Follow Christ’s twofold commandment to love God and love neighbor as ourselves. Simple, yes; easy, not so much. John had been in the upper room when Cleopas and his companion witnessed to all about the appearance and conversation they had unknowingly with Jesus on the Emmaus road. Then Jesus Himself appeared in the room, ate fish with them and promised the gift of the Holy Spirit. He had been with Peter when a lame beggar had begged them for alms, had received healing instead, leapt and danced and attracted such a crowd that Peter began to preach to the Jews.

Has anyone ever fussed at you and then later you found yourself being grateful for that fuss? Because you changed something as a result and became a better person? Well, I don’t know if that was the result of Peter’s preaching, but note that he really laid into the crowd with his words. They had turned Jesus, the God-ordained Messiah, over to the priests and then to Pilate for execution. Even when Pilate wanted to free Him! They not only denied Jesus, but they asked Pilate for a murderer instead of the Author of life! And then Peter makes an excuse for his listeners: like “you guys, of course, are ignorant, just like your leaders.” But it was all foretold and now you folks get another chance. Repent and turn away from sin and be forgiven. Hey, that’s what we heard on Ash Wednesday, wasn’t it. And we spent all of Lent working on that, I trust.

That’s our daily task, and we should examine our conscience each day before retiring. The just person sins seven times a day. But if you don’t have enough personal goof-ups to occupy your repentant mind, how about repenting our national sins? Millions of aborted children over fifty years or more, and maybe you even voted for politicians who supported that homicide? Ask God to forgive that sin, and convert those leaders’ minds and hearts. How about the people who stood by while the currency was being devalued, and made life all the more difficult for the working poor? Repent for them. What about the charities that are overwhelmed with people needing food and shelter and medical care, while donors are cutting back on their benevolence? We frequently ask God to forgive the sins we have done, and the good that we fail to do. Both kinds of forgiveness are critical. Otherwise we are like hypocrites St. John fusses at, telling others they know the Lord but ignoring His clear commands to love God and love their neighbor. As you have conversations with your family about this, it would be a good idea to do so around the general idea of human dignity, and how the Church’s guidance, stimulated by Holy Scripture, protects our dignity. And, just to stimulate that discussion, why not read together the brand-new document from the Dicastery for Doctrine, Dignitas Infinita!

There are four kinds of prayer: praise, thanks, petition and repentance. We’re all pretty good at asking God for stuff; we need to get better at the repentance piece, do we not? God wants only our good, and repentance for both individuals and community is a critical activity on our path to sanctity.