Jonah’s response to the people of Nineveh reveals a hardness of heart that God addresses in the wilderness. May we examine our lives with care, rooting out anything that is unworthy of the Lord.
Mass Readings – Wednesday of the 27th Week of the Year
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St. Bruno & Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher…pray for us!
In the Gospel of Luke the Lord directs his attention to three local villages that did not repent and take his message to heart. It’s a sobering reminder for us today to repent of our sins and embrace the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Mass Readings – Friday of the 26th Week of the Year
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St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus…pray for us!
Jesus affirms the preaching of Jonah to repent. This is the constant message throughout salvation history: to acknowledge our sins and return to the Lord for mercy and forgiveness.
Mass Readings – Wednesday of the 1st Week of Lent
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The temptation of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark reminds us that the darkness of sin must be confronted in our hearts with the triumph of Christ.
Mass Readings – 1st Sunday of Lent
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We begin the season of Lent by acknowledging our sins and embracing God’s mercy through repentance and conversion of heart. May these forty days help us draw closer to Jesus Christ and one another!
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Study: Start out this Lent with a good Examination of Conscience.
Pray: Ask the Lord for the grace to repent.
Serve: Consider a practical way you can bring “good news” to someone in your life.
Mass Readings – 1st Sunday of Lent
Mark’s Gospel is direct and to the point:
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1: 14-15)
It’s time. Maybe you got a late start to Lent, maybe it caught up on you before you were ready. Maybe you’ve been ready, but you needed that little push – that extra kick – to get started and make a change.
It’s not complicated. Is there something that’s keeping us from God or one another? Is there something that needs to be different in our words and actions? Does the pattern of our lives need to be altered toward the Lord’s goodness? Two simple steps:
In the first reading the rainbow is a sign from God that never again will the world be flooded with waters of destruction. The covenant with Noah is built on hope: life is worth saving, worth fighting for, worth dying for, and worthy of the ultimate sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. Once we recognize God’s faithfulness, we can more easily let go of past sins and temptations – turning to the one who loves us completely.
Is there anything holding us back from the Lord? Now is a good time to honestly assess our lives, cast out what does not belong, and call upon the grace of Jesus Christ.
After all, he brings Good News – and once we’ve left our sins behind, we can embrace the joy that flows from Heaven.
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Archive of Fr. Andrew’s Podcasts
Note: This post was first published on February 12, 2018.
Christ commands us to “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” This exhortation is not a one-time event; rather, it is an ongoing process that we reaffirm every day.
Mass Readings – 3rd Sunday of the Year
Study: Recall a time when you made a serious mistake. What steps did you take to make it right? Do you have any unfinished work that needs to be done?
Pray: Saying “I’m sorry” and “I forgive you” can be very difficult; don’t try it alone! Ask the Lord for the grace and strength.
Serve: How can you help another on the path to repentance? How might you encourage people to seek healing and forgiveness?
Mass Readings – 3rd Sunday of the Year
Remember back in elementary school when we all learned long division? Perhaps you remember some of those really long problems that took a whole sheet of paper to write? I recall the excitement when I found the answers at the end of the book, only to have my hopes crushed when the dreaded words “show your work” were part of the instructions…
To demonstrate the exercise our 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Tempesta, would put a problem on the chalk board and demonstrate line by line, showing the work and how the process repeats until you made your way through the entire problem. At the end you would have the answer, with all the work to prove it.
I remember asking Mrs. Tempesta what would happen if you made a mistake early on in the process. She smiled and repeated the problem along side the original – with one tiny mistake. The wrong answer at the end of the work glared at our class; when we asked what do you do if your answer doesn’t match the solution in the book, she replied, “You have to start at the beginning, find your mistake, and rework a new solution.”
Welcome to repentance.
We all make mistakes: we say things we can’t take back; do things we regret; allow things to happen that we’d give anything to erase. And while we can’t change the past our faith tells us that we have a process that can bring healing and restore relationships. Like long division, we find our mistakes, REPENT, and rework a solution that follows a new path of behavior.
The words “I’m sorry” and “I forgive you” are some of the most powerful in any language. The first reading and the Gospel today are especially adamant that we take them to heart – repenting of our sins and choosing a Godly path that brings healing to our lives. Remember: God never gives up on us! The process looks like this:
Perhaps it’s been awhile since we stepped into a confessional. Perhaps it’s been awhile since we have honestly looked into our hearts. Today we can take a moment to look inside, see what doesn’t belong, and make the move to repent of our sins and turn to the Lord. May we see in the example of Jonah and Jesus today that we have hope; God keeps calling – inviting us to turn away from sin and embrace the Good News.
And if you are looking for some help in checking out your heart, try these options for an Examination of Conscience.
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Note: This post was originally published on January 19, 2015.
From the very start of his earthly ministry, Jesus preached for repentance – the ongoing call to conversion of heart – as we turn from our sins and embrace our lives for the Lord.
Mass Readings – Monday after Epiphany
As Jesus looks upon the city of Jerusalem, he weeps for the destruction that will come. May the Lord’s sorrow for our sins move us to repent of the evil in our hearts.
Mass Readings – Thursday of the 33rd Week of the Year
