Gospel: Matthew 11:16-19
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they
said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking and
they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors
and sinners.’ But wisdom is vindicated by her works.
+ + + + + + +
The word repentance is perhaps the most ignored word.
For example we would often call on people close to us to repent and
change their ways for the better. More often than not, this call is ignored,
and they reason that they have nothing to repent for.
We often don’t see our sinfulness until a person close
to us tells us about it and we don’t normally like to be told about our sins.
But the reality of it all is we are sinners we sin by our words, thoughts and
actions.
John the Baptist called for repentance, asceticism or
simplicity was his way of life he wore clothing made of camel’s hair and had a
leather belt on his waist and his food was locust and wild honey. He prepared
the way for Jesus by calling the sinners of his time to repent.
Jesus’ approach was different, He mingled with
sinners, He healed the sick, He performed miracles and conducted life changing
sermons in that process He called them all to repentance.
This season of Advent the call to repentance intensifies
to a crescendo for us to be more worthy of the coming birth of our savior. But
only few of us give it an ear, we chose to ignore it. Why not listen to this
call? Why not change our ways for the better? Why not humbly submit ourselves
to the healing Sacrament of Reconciliation?
If today you hear His voice harden not your hearts. (Hebrew 3:15) – Marino J. Dasmarinas
No comments:
Post a Comment