The morning sermon reminded me that the Jewish word for “repent”
means “change”. It means don’t say
something, “I’m sorry,” but do something.
When a Catholic person goes to Confession, he is required
to repent of his sins. He doesn’t just
recite his sins to the priest and say “I’m sorry.” No, he must say/make an Act of
Contrition. That prayer says “I am
heartily sorry for my sins” but also: I firmly resolve to change, “to amend my
life.”
John the Baptist preached a Baptism of repentance, sorrow
for sins and change. Jesus came to show
a Baptism of change: He showed us how to
love. There are very few sins (if any)
which are not rooted in our doing something for ourselves, self-love. “Change,” as Jesus spoke, said: “Love others,”
not yourself. Repentance that Jesus
spoke of was to change your focus, from yourself to God, to others. It is a big change to make, one that truly
takes a lifetime of effort. And
confessions.
Yesterday was Friday.
It was the day on which Jesus repented for our sins; He chose a most
difficult change. He chose to die for
us. We need to choose to die to
ourselves, and our selfish actions.
It was a short sermon.
To me, it said a lot.
Yes, thank you for sharing - it is a great insight that we so often choose to ignore.
ReplyDeleteGlad to find this blog.
ReplyDeleteCynthia and Boyd, glad you found the short words as insightful as I did. It's kind of funny, sometimes deep insights take a lot of rambling words to describe, but some of the more important things are so basic. I guess we need both, depending on the day and where we are at in our walk.
ReplyDeleteWelcome along for the stroll with me.