Turning to Christ in Repentance

Second Sunday of Advent Year A

Advent is upon us again and for many Catholics, it’s time to go for confessions. Just a little reminder; you don’t need to confine your confessions to the Advent and Lenten Penitential services only, where loads of priests visit our parish just to hear confessions. In fact, confessions are available before every weekend masses. See those two doors at the back of the church – well, they are confessionals, if you didn’t know. One of the amusing things that we encounter only during Penitential services, because it’s the only time when many Catholics who usually don’t go for confession, actually do make an attempt to do so, is to meet a penitent who has no sin. He’s there for confession because it’s “time” to make a confession but claims to have no sin. So then, we have a “sinless penitent” – an oxymoron, right?

I think people like this actually end up committing, albeit unknowingly, four additional sins. I’m going to list them out for you:

The first sin is boasting and pride. Instead of confessing their sins, many start “confessing” their virtues. It would sound something like the Pharisee in our Lord’s parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector: “I don’t lie, I don’t steal, I come to church every Sunday, I read the Bible every day.” Now all that is quite nice, but you need to remember that in a confession, you are here to tell me your sins and not tell me how good you’ve been. You won’t get brownie points for this.

The second sin is self-righteousness. Again this springs from pride. Pride blinds us to our own faults. And in a way, this can truly be described as the “sin against the Holy Spirit,” the “unforgivable sin,” because sins can never be forgiven if we are unrepentant.

Thirdly, we end up complaining and blaming others. If I’m not at fault, then someone else must be. So, confessions like these will end up in a rant to the priest about the sins of others. I often remind the penitent, “You are here to confess YOUR sins. Don’t do other’s job for them.”

Fourthly, when a penitent says that he has no sin, he ends up lying. Only our Lord Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, are sinless. There you have it!

Why all this talk about confessions and repentance? Well, the first word uttered by the Baptist in today’s gospel sets the stage, the context and the content of his ministry and message, “Repent.” It’s an explosive word.  A word that will make us blush and squirm in our seats. A word that pulls us in the direction of the confession. And yet it is a word which you would hardly hear in a politically correct world that would buy more into the gospel of inclusion, a gospel that demands nothing from its hearers; neither does it deliver anything new. But John’s primary message was a call to repentance. In fact, ‘repent’ will also be the first spoken word of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. 

The Baptist, or popularly known by Eastern Christians as the Forerunner of the Lord, is preparing the way for the Coming One, the one described by the Prophet Isaiah as “a shoot (that) springs from the stock of Jesse,” by hearing the confessions of sinners who are being converted and by baptising them with the baptism of repentance. John’s baptism is actually a pre-Christian form of confession rather than our modern rite of baptism.

Some people think that repentance is mostly about feelings, especially feeling sorry for your sin. It is wonderful to feel sorry about your sin, but repent isn’t a “feeling” word (neither is ‘joy’ for that matter). True repentance is something far deeper than simple sentimentality. It is an “action” word. The word "repent," which signifies God's desire and demand of men, is from the Greek word "metanoeo" which means "to think differently, or afterwards." The word signifies a changing of the mind and heart. The Baptist made it clear that preparation for the coming of the Messiah demanded conversion of heart and transformation, a change of direction. The reorientation would require the person to turn away from sin and turn towards Christ. The gospel thus proposes three steps to achieve this new direction: Acknowledge your sins, do not presume your relationship and bear fruits that show repentance and conversion.

Acknowledging our sinfulness is the first step to repentance. It seems easy enough to understand the need for this but we still witness the reluctance of many to go for confession. It is not just the shame of baring one’s soul, but also the denial of responsibility for the sins we have committed that obstructs our path to repentance. We suffer from the illusion that we are fine and not too far off the beaten track, that salvation is guaranteed. But that’s what it is – an illusion, it is not real. What is real is that we are sinners in need of redemption!

On the other hand, many Catholics also suffer from a presumed relationship that comes with guaranteed entitlements – e.g. a Catholic wedding or a Catholic funeral. Most feel that baptism earns them certain privileges, but no responsibilities ensue there from. It doesn’t matter if a person has not stepped into Church for years, he or the family still believes that they are entitled to a Church wedding or funeral. Many of the Jews did the same thing – they thought that by coming from the lineage of Abraham, they would be justified by that alone.  They relied upon their heritage to save them, it was a false assumption that lulled them into spiritual complacency.

Simply acknowledging our sins and presuming that we are now made children of God through baptism is not enough. It’s a first step, but just not enough. What is more important for repentance is to “produce the appropriate fruit”; we have to produce evidence that we have honestly repented. Just by producing your Baptism Certificate would be insufficient proof of your conversion. Or as CS Lewis puts it, “going to Church does not make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car!” Conversion must be apparent in our lifestyle. That is why absolution should not be given when someone stubbornly holds on to a sinful habitual way of life, e.g. adultery. But, it is still not enough to stop sinning.  One can turn away from one sin and yet turn to another object, person or way of life that becomes our new idol. Ultimately, the fruits must show that we have orientated our whole life to Christ. We see this in John’s humility and genuine readiness to step off centre stage as his final witness to Jesus. In the gospel of John, he declares that Christ “must increase, while (he) must decrease" (3:30).

So, what is the first thing we must do to prepare for the coming of the Lord at Christmas and His Second Coming at the End of the Ages? Repentance! Repentance means turning to Christ. It means putting God in the first place in our lives and making sure that everything else finds its rightful place in our lives under God. Repentance means letting go of our own will, in order to follow the things that God wills for us. It means turning away from sin and all rebellion against God, in order to be obedient to God and to follow Him in all that He wants from us. Repentance means owning up to our sins, our human frailties, our fears, our inner hurts and entrusting all these to God’s mercy and compassion. Repentance means knowing our need of God. In turning our lives around, we come to recognise that our self-sufficiency is inadequate and that we need to cooperate with God in our own salvation. Repentance therefore is not a one-time thing. It is a process that goes on for a lifetime. Little by little we orientate ourselves ever more perfectly in God’s love.