Gospel: Matthew 11:20-24
Jesus began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been
done, since they had not repented. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you,
Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and
Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell
you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than
for you.
And as for you, Capernaum: Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go
down to the nether world. For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been
done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you, it will
be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”
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Reflection:
The story is told about a man who was being bothered by his many sins, he
would think of it every now and then and it would always give him guilt of
conscience. He had no peace of mind; a friend noticed his uneasy behavior so he
was asked what was bothering him. After telling his friend what was bothering
him, he was advised to repent from all of his sins through the Sacrament of
Confession. So he did and he finally had peace of mind.
The people of Chorazin and Bethsaida were reprimanded by Jesus for they
refused to repent from their evil ways. Why do we refuse to repent and why do
we love to sin? The reason perhaps is we love the devil one more than Jesus, we
love this world more than we love to be eventually in heaven with Jesus.
Otherwise if we love Jesus we would repent and this repentance will reach its
apex once we submit ourselves to the Sacrament of Confession.
This is who many of us are, we love to sin yet we don’t want to be in
hell. But what we don’t know is as we continue to sin we also slowly walk
towards hell. Are Satan and hell real? Of course they are! Observe those
who continue to sin or who continue to live sinful lives.
They may be rich and powerful but the reality is they have no peace of
mind often times their family also is in turmoil. And the reason for this is
their refusal to walk away from sin. Therefore we will be with the evil one and
we will feel hell here and now if we will not walk away from sin.
Jesus will surely want us all to repent and to submit ourselves to the
Sacrament of Confession. This is for the reason that Jesus wants us to be
cleansed from all of our sins that have been enslaving us for so long.
Nevertheless, Jesus also gave us the freedom of choice to do what we want to do
in this world.
The choice is ours to make, should we continue to live in the darkness of
sin that has been making life so miserable for us? Or we embrace the guiding
light of Jesus through HIS offer of repentance? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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