REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION
"Do you not know that
God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance" (Rom 2:5)?... Let us
trust in the kindness of God that leads us all to repentance and conversion!
Today, we hear strong words from St. Paul's
Letter to the Romans, and the harshness from Jesus' response to the Pharisees.
In fact, this is the only group of people with whom Jesus is really harsh
simply because they should have known better. As experts in religion they
should have realized that external observance of man-made laws is not the way
to please God. In their practices, they were self-righteous and complacent.
St. Paul makes the same point in the first
reading. His words are so strong that they indicate how upset he is with any
form of self-righteous judgement of others. His somewhat rambling lesson is
summed up by saying, "Do you suppose, O man, that when you judge those who
do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God?
Or do you presume upon the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience?
Do you not know that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance"
(Rom 2:3-5)?
We are all called to listen to what God is
saying to us in our lives. Jesus and Paul hold up a mirror for us today, not to
criticize or condemn one another, but to love. God is patiently waiting for our
daily conversion; a complete transformation into truly living a life of faith,
and of love and justice for ourselves and those around us. God has surely been
kind to us. He has given us the great gift of faith. He certainly shows us
forbearance. No matter what our sins may be, He is always eager to forgive us.
If we have an image of God as an all loving and forgiving Father, we are then
quite correct in our faith journey.
We all have the temptation of criticizing
others for their weaknesses while at the same time giving ourselves room for
our own shortcomings and our inability to live fully in God's will and desires.
The Pharisees imposed burdens on others while they overlooked their own faults
and overlooked the judgement and love of God. We hear the same from Paul today:
"For by the standard by which you judge another you condemn yourself,
since you, the judge, do the very same things" (Rom 2:1b-2).
St. Paul's strong words can be understood by
the urgency of the message he wanted to give the people of his time and for us
today - to repent for the things that get in our way of having a relationship
with God. In order to have a real conversion of heart, knowing that all things
are possible with God in our lives, we must declare as Paul did in yesterday's
reading, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel. It is the power of God for our
salvation of everyone who believes..." (Rom 1:16)!
It isn't always easy for us to avoid being
self-righteous, for we can all get trapped by it at times. Perhaps we think
that our daily celebration of the Eucharist makes us better than others. But,
let us not become complacent. To put it another way, may we not presume to take
advantage of God because He is so kind and merciful. Even though we wish to be
very dedicated children of God, it is good for us to hear the warnings of Paul
today. They are a favor from God to encourage us in our attempts to grow in
holiness.
Let us trust in the kindness of God that leads
us all to repentance and conversion!