AWAITING OUR REPENTANCE
Jesus asks us to repent because He knows that living
according to the flesh, living selfishly, means that we wither and die like a
tree that bears no fruit.
The cold of winter can
be a time of desolation. The trees, like the fig tree in the Gospel, do not
bear fruit. The days are often cloudy and darkness covers the land. Take a
moment and imagine you are lost in the woods during the worst part of winter.
Without a fire and sufficient clothing you are exposed to the coldness of the
weather. Your bodily activity slows down with a preoccupation for warmth.
Shivering and desperate to ward off the cold, it comes to the point of wrapping
your arms around yourself. You can only think of one thing, getting warm.
That is the picture of
what St. Paul
means by a person who lives according to the flesh. "Flesh" does not
mean human body, as in our thinking. Rather, it means the human person turned
in upon themselves in selfishness and away from God and others. "In
contrast," he says, "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control"
(Gal 5:22-23) - virtues that are not so much "spiritual" as down to
earth and practical.
As we continue to
reflect on what Paul is saying in his Letter we can look at it this way:
"Living according to the flesh" also means living only for oneself,
thinking only of one's own wants or needs. "Living according to the
Spirit" means that "the Spirit of God dwells in you" (Rm 8:9)
and, as a result, you begin thinking about others. In today's Letter to the
Ephesians, St. Paul points out that Jesus "gave some as Apostles, others
as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers" (Eph
4:11). All of this is "for the work of ministry, for building up the Body
of Christ" (Eph 4:12).
Jesus asks us to
repent because He knows that living according to the flesh, living selfishly,
means that we wither and die like a tree that bears no fruit. Along our journey
we can allow the Spirit of God to guide our lives, practicing generosity,
kindness and gentleness, which give us a mellow heart. In our Psalm today, we
ask for the gift of personal intimacy in order to walk with God, daily.
"Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord. And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem" (Ps 122:1-2). Amen.