20230301 MOTIVATIONS FOR REPENTANCE
01 March 2023, Wednesday, 1st Week of Lent
First reading | Jonah 3:1-10 © |
The Ninevites repent, and God spares them
The word of the Lord was addressed to Jonah: ‘Up!’ he said ‘Go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach to them as I told you to.’ Jonah set out and went to Nineveh in obedience to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was a city great beyond compare: it took three days to cross it. Jonah went on into the city, making a day’s journey. He preached in these words, ‘Only forty days more and Nineveh is going to be destroyed.’ And the people of Nineveh believed in God; they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least. The news reached the king of Nineveh, who rose from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth and sat down in ashes. A proclamation was then promulgated throughout Nineveh, by decree of the king and his ministers, as follows: ‘Men and beasts, herds and flocks, are to taste nothing; they must not eat, they must not drink water. All are to put on sackcloth and call on God with all their might; and let everyone renounce his evil behaviour and the wicked things he has done. Who knows if God will not change his mind and relent, if he will not renounce his burning wrath, so that we do not perish?’ God saw their efforts to renounce their evil behaviour, and God relented: he did not inflict on them the disaster which he had threatened.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 50(51):3-4,12-13,18-19 © |
A humbled, contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn.
Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.
In your compassion blot out my offence.
O wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.
A humbled, contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn.
A pure heart create for me, O God,
put a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
nor deprive me of your holy spirit.
A humbled, contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn.
For in sacrifice you take no delight,
burnt offering from me you would refuse,
my sacrifice, a contrite spirit.
A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.
A humbled, contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn.
Gospel Acclamation | Ezk33:11 |
Glory and praise to you, O Christ!
I take pleasure, not in the death of a wicked man
– it is the Lord who speaks –
but in the turning back of a wicked man
who changes his ways to win life.
Glory and praise to you, O Christ!
Or: | Joel2:12-13 |
Glory and praise to you, O Christ!
Now, now – it is the Lord who speaks –
come back to me with all your heart,
for I am all tenderness and compassion.
Glory and praise to you, O Christ!
Gospel | Luke 11:29-32 © |
As Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be a sign
The crowds got even bigger, and Jesus addressed them:
‘This is a wicked generation; it is asking for a sign. The only sign it will be given is the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. On Judgement day the Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here. On Judgement day the men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation and condemn it, because when Jonah preached they repented; and there is something greater than Jonah here.’
MOTIVATIONS FOR REPENTANCE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [JONAH 3:1-10; PS 51:3-4,12-13,18-19; LUKE 11:29-32]
The appeal during the season of Lent is repentance. Throughout this season, the thrust of the Church is to invite us all to a new life. But this new life cannot be ours unless we repent of our sins and choose to walk the life of Christ. Repentance, therefore, is the first step towards conversion of life. But what is our motive for repentance? People repent for different reasons. Today, the scripture readings invite us to deepen our reflection on what motivates us to repentance or not at all.
The first reason for repentance for most people is fear. We read in the first reading how the Ninevites repented because of their fear of imminent destruction as prophesied by Jonah. Jonah warned them, “Only forty days more and Nineveh is going to be destroyed.” In contrast to the religious leaders in the gospel, “… the people of Nineveh believed in God; they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least. The news reached the king of Nineveh, who rose from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth and sat down in ashes.”
The irony of life is that often it is the ordinary people that would respond to the call for conversion because of fear, unlike the religious leaders. How often have we heard of people rushing for confession and having their candles blessed because they hear that the end of the world is near? Out of fear and often naivety, they would repent because they are frightened at the prospect of going to hell. But intelligent people today, and religious leaders appear to be immune to such threats because their knowledge of theology or philosophy deem these so called ‘doom prophecies’ to be mere rumours.
The truth remains that many people repent because of the fear of punishment, whether temporal or eternal. If evil and dishonest people decide to repent it is because they fear being found out, shamed and disgraced, or being imprisoned for their crimes. Students often study out of fear of being punished or unable to pass their exams. Workers work hard out of fear that they might get the sack. The bottom line for such repentance is fear.
When it is motivated by fear, there is no real conversion of mind and heart. Such repentance is motivated by love of self, more than anything else. Such people repent not because they believe that what they do is wrong, or that others are hurt, but because they are afraid to hurt themselves. That being the case, they will just continue committing sins and doing evil so long as they do not get caught. Once they know that their game is about to be uncovered, then they will stop their illicit activities.
The second motivation for repentance could be due to anger. This was the case of Jonah. He was angry with God when the people repented. He went to preach to the Ninevites, not in the hope that they would repent, but that they would not. It would then be an occasion for him to fulfil his prophecy that they would be destroyed by the hand of God. But to his disenchantment, the pagans repented, from the King right down to every citizen. As a consequence, he lost the opportunity to prove himself. His ego was wounded. So the desire for repentance was more out of anger, revenge and egotism. It was also tainted by a streak of self-righteousness. It was not a sincere desire for them to repent.
When we are motivated by this reason, then the cause is again self-love but more than that, it is hatred of others. Unlike in the first instance, it is purely out of self-love and self-interests. In this instance, it is vindictive and an attempt to demonstrate one’s power. Indeed, how often have we cursed others on the pretext that we want them to repent. Those whom we do not like, we hope that something amiss would befall them. We desire evil upon them because we want to take revenge. This happens often when we do not like our in-laws or superiors. We wish them an early death or that they be removed from their positions or that they make some mistakes and be reprimanded. Such people must search their motives, for when we curse others, we will only curse ourselves. There is a lack of compassion for such people. To positively will evil on others is a curse. It is not out of mercy but out of spite.
The third motivation for repentance is sorrow for one’s sins. This is a nobler form of repentance. This kind of repentance is expressed in the psalm. King David who apparently wrote and sang this psalm did it out of sorrow for the sins he had committed. He said, “Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness. In your compassion blot out my offence. O wash me more and more from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. For in sacrifice you take no delight, burnt offering from me you would refuse, my sacrifice, a contrite spirit. A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.”
Such motivation is certainly more in line with what is called a true repentance. This form of repentance is motivated by love of others and less for self. True repentance is when we come to realize that what we have done is wrong, not simply because we get hurt in the end but because others are hurt by our selfish actions and words. When we feel sorry that we have hurt others and make them suffer because of our sins and negligence, then this is true sorrow. True contrition of heart will make it less likely for us to repeat our sins because it is now prompted by love and consideration for others. Before we give in to sin, we begin to think of those people we are hurting because of our dishonesty and evil action. Such consideration of the well-being of others before self would prevent us from doing evil and from hurting them.
The fourth motivation for repentance is love, not just of others but love of truth. This was the case of the Queen of Sheba who was a lady of great wealth, beauty and power. But such things could not fulfil her as she desired something more, that is, wisdom. So having heard about Solomon’s fame for wisdom, she came to him. (cf. 1 Kings 10). Hence, Jesus remarked, “On Judgement day the Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon.”
Indeed, foe those who pursue the truth, and the truth ultimately is love, the consequence of repentance is enlightenment. This is open to all, regardless of faith and beliefs. If anyone is sincere in finding the truth, he or she will be led to repentance and to true love. The problem of our times is that the ideology of relativism and agnosticism claim that the truth cannot be found, and that God cannot be known. However, if anyone sincerely seeks the truth, then when he finds it, he will repent. Of course, if he cannot find the truth, then he continues to live in ignorance. As St Thomas would say, we all suffer the double darkness of the ignorance of sin and the intellect because of Original Sin.
This explains why the Constitution of the Church declares, “Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience. Nor does Divine Providence deny the helps necessary for salvation to those who, without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and with His grace strive to live a good life. Whatever good or truth is found amongst them is looked upon by the Church as a preparation for the Gospel. She knows that it is given by Him who enlightens all men so that they may finally have life. But often men, deceived by the Evil One, have become vain in their reasonings and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, serving the creature rather than the Creator. (LG 16)
More than just discovering the truth or wisdom, the primary and most noble of motives for repentance is to recognize this wisdom as the Wisdom of God. This wisdom of God for us Christians is now incarnated in our Lord Jesus Christ. In discovering Christ as the Wisdom of God, we will then repent, not because of fear, love of self or even knowing the truth, but because we have fallen in love with a person. And this person is none other than the Lord Himself, the truth, wisdom and Word of God in person.
Truly, if the Queen of Sheba would travel all the way to Jerusalem to listen to King Solomon because of his wisdom, how much more should we come to the Lord Jesus. Interestingly, sources outside the bible suggest that the Queen of Sheba conceived a child in secret with King Solomon. Some Bible commentators speculate that the nameless woman, the beloved in the Song of Solomon is the Queen of Sheba. The lover of course was King Solomon himself. Even if it were merely speculative, the point remains that love of God and love of others must be the primary motive for repentance. For the love of God and the love of others, we will repent because we love. Truly, if we repent out of God’s love for us, as in the case of St Peter and St Paul, we would then in turn become missionaries of love as well, living a holy and godly life not for any reason but simply because we have come to realize that truth is love and that love is God.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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