ASH WEDNESDAY

Repentance

                             

The English author, G. K. Chesterton says: AThe soul does not die by sin, but by impenitence.@ More deadly than sin itself is the refusal to acknowledge sin, and to repent of it. Repentance is at the beginning of every Mass. It is also how we begin Lent.

ALord, have mercy,@ we pray. When we appeal to God, we are acknowledging that we can never get rid of sin on our own. Sin is like addiction. Part of the reason for the success of Alcoholics Anonymous in dealing with the addiction to alcohol is the spiritual soundness of the first two of its twelve points:

1.       We admitted we were powerless over alcoholCthat our lives had become unmanageable.

2.       We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.  

As we begin Lent, therefore, we confess our powerlessness and appeal to the only power that can make us whole. Do we realize how counter-cultural that is? The self-help books all tell us that we=re not powerless. We can do it on our own. We can get our act together. The only thing we lack is self-confidence. In confessing our sins we are not asking for an increase of self-confidence. Instead we appeal to God for mercy. Prayer for God=s mercy is one petition which is always certain of a favorable response.

AA clean heart create for me, O God,@ we prayed in the responsorial psalm.  Cleanliness is not something grim. Nor is the repentance which leads to cleanliness. It is liberating B and joyful. One of the most beautiful things in married life is the ability to say, AI=m sorry,@ and to hear the words, AI forgive you.@ 

Beautiful as human forgiveness is, however, it is only a pale shadow of God=s forgiveness. When we forgive, there is always a memory of the wrong or injury done B a skeleton in the closet, we call it. God doesn=t have any closets, and he certainly does have any skeletons. God=s forgiveness is total. In the Old Testament book of the prophet Isaiah we hear God saying: AThough your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow@ (1:18). And later in the book God says: AI wipe out your offenses; your sins I remember no more.@ (43:25). Here is a story that illustrates this.

A woman visited her bishop to tell him that Jesus had appeared to her and told her to visit the bishop and tell him that he must build a shrine to Jesus= mother. The bishop had more than enough to do without the hassle of erecting another church. So he told his visitor: ANext time you speak with the Lord, ask him to tell you the worst sin I committed as a young man. If you can come back with the right answer, then we=ll talk about this shrine of yours.@

The woman was back the next day. ADid you ask about my worst sin?@ the bishop said. AYes, I did,@ the woman replied.

AAnd what did the Lord say?@

AHe said he forgot.@

AYour sins I remember no more,@ God told Isaiah. That is the good news. We don=t have to drag after us an ever lengthening trail of guilt. When we turn to the Lord and ask forgiveness, our sins are gone. This good news is so simple that we can state it in three short words: AGod loves sinners.@ He doesn=t love the ideal people we=d like to be, when we=ve got rid of all our sins, tied up all the loose ends in our lives, and mended all our brokenness. No. He loves us as we are, right now. That, friends, is the gospel. That is the good news.