True repentance goes beyond outward appearances and acts; we need to ask more deeply for the Bread of Life
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
The readings this week offer us something hard and something hopeful.
The hard thing is this: This is the week where the first line of the first reading has God telling us, “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19:2), and the last line of the last reading has Jesus telling us, “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). This call to perfection is not just an invitation but a requirement!
Lest that seem overly daunting, we hear some things that should give us great hope. We hear about Jonah’s second chance and Nineveh’s second chance and how they seized it and followed the Lord. We hear the prophet Ezekiel deliver what was considered, at the time, a surprising message: If the sinner repents, none of his sins will be remembered against him!
Psalm 51 follows up on this theme of repentance: “A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.” In its original context, this verse referred to the repentance of David after committing adultery and murder. God would accept even his repentance! In its lectionary context, the verse refers to the repentance of Nineveh which, remember, was the capital city of one of Israel’s greatest enemies. God would accept even their repentance! Finally, in its liturgical context, it refers to each of us: No matter how grave our sins, we can have confidence that God will accept our repentance, too — if we repent.
What does repentance entail? The Scottish writer George MacDonald (1825-1905), whose writings were influential on C.S. Lewis, once wrote: “The Father will never give the child a stone that asks for bread; but I am not sure that He will never give the child a stone that asks for a stone. If the Father says, ‘My child, that is a stone, it is no bread,’ and the child answers, ‘I am sure it is bread; I want it,’ may it not be well that he should try his ‘bread?’”
Sometimes repentance means we must stop calling stones “bread” and ask for true food. Think of the many ways Americans today ask for stones rather than the Bread of Life. How might each of us, in repentance, ask more deeply for true bread from our heavenly Father?
Jesus told His disciples, and He tells us: “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” But then He tells us exactly what He means: We can’t engage in merely external action, without also converting our hearts. God wants it all!
Two cries echo in the hearts of humankind in every age. The first is: “Can’t I just go through the motions?” To this cry God replies: “No, I want your heart to be in it, too.” The second is: “Can’t I just give you my soul interiorly, and we can skip the external actions?” To this cry God replies: “No, I made you with a soul and a body. Your own heart longs for a love that comes from both! In that, your hearts reflect mine. I want both, too, because I want both your body and soul in heaven.”
God’s responses to those cries give us plenty to strive for, plenty of grounds for repentance and plenty of grounds for hope!
