Saturday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Sometimes it feels like “sorry” is a really sorry word. When there is something that I have done wrong, I know I can feel sorry. That makes it a feeling. Something that can be fleeting and utterly subjective. I can say sorry. That makes it a word that can be said without substance. And sometimes I can just be sorry. Making it a state of being. But in the moments when I’m regretting a choice of words, an action, or an inaction, sorry can just seem so insufficient. I think that is because it seems difficult to act sorry. This is where repentance comes into the picture.
I don’t have a concordance handy, but does the Bible ever use the word ‘sorry’? I can’t recall a time. However, in Scripture, we find ‘repent’, ‘turn from your wrongs’, and ‘do acts worthy of repentance’. From Scripture we see that sorrow is not something that merely permeates our feelings, our words, and our being. Rather, it is an act of the will.
This is integral to the Christian message. It is integral because we need to recognize the ways that we sin, but it is equally important because God calls us beyond our sin. God does not wish for Christians that wallow in self-pity because they are always feeling sorry. I believe that God wants Christians that have, as David requested for in the Psalm today, “the joy of your salvation, and a willing spirit”.
This is why Ezekiel writes, “Turn and be converted from all your crimes, that they may be no cause of guilt for you. Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies, says the Lord GOD. Return and live!” We are called to repentance both because of our sins and for our joy.
A disciple’s life is not one of merely avoiding sin. We are not called to just stand in place so as not to pursue vice. Rather, and more importantly, it is about turning towards virtue, joy, love, truth, peace, and life. In other words, pursuing Christ.
As we go into Mass tomorrow, a Sunday, we’ll sing the Gloria. Father Satish astutely pointed out during a retreat, that the Gloria immediately follows the Kyrie (the “Lord have Mercy”). We confess and repent of our sinfulness so that through Jesus we may immediately be moved to joy.
“Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Repent, for the joy, peace, and life of Christ is at hand.
- Spencer Hargadon