by Fr. Tommy Lane
Repentance. Jesus begins his preaching after his baptism in the Jordan and his of fasting in the desert with a call to repentance (Mark 1:14-20). This is not the usual Jesus we hear about nowadays. People prefer not to hear about a Jesus calling to repentance. It is so much easier to make Jesus in our own image and likeness instead of having to form ourselves into what Jesus asks of us. But throughout the Gospels, in various ways, we see Jesus calling to repentance if we have eyes to see and ears to hear. Towards the end of last year (28th Sunday, Year A) it was a shock when we read Jesus’ parable in which there was a man thrown out of the wedding hall because he was not wearing the wedding garment (Matt 22:12-14). When the sinner woman was brought before Jesus for stoning, and Jesus said the one without sin should stone her first, they all left her alone with Jesus and he said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and do not sin again.” (John 8:3-11) When Jesus was having dinner in the house of Simon the Pharisee, a woman washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and dried them with her hair (Luke 7:44-48). Pope Francis said her tears were tears of repentance for her sins (Homily Friday 13, 2015, St. Peter’s Basilica) The parables taught by Jesus give examples of repentance: the prodigal son returned to his Father (Luke 15:11-32) and there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine virtuous who have no need of repentance. (Luke 15:7)
For us, repentance is a constant task because none of us are walking saints. Repentance and genuine conversion may be a difficult and long process depending on what the issues are. Maybe repentance is like an onion with different layers of repentance we have to go through to get to genuine conversion and love of God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Jonah in our first reading has to do that. The story of repentance in our first reading is only part of the story (Jon 3:1-5, 10). The Book of Jonah, in our Catholic understanding, is a story made up to give a teaching much like Jesus made up parables to teach. In the story, the Ninevites, Israel’s archenemies, repent and are saved. Reading ahead in the story, we see that Jonah is very upset over this because he had hoped they would not repent and would be destroyed by God. As a result, Jonah goes into a sulk because the Ninevites were spared. When the book ends, Jonah is still sulking and has not come to accept that the Ninevites will be spared because they repented. So as the book ends, the Ninevites have repented, and it is Jonah himself who needs to repent. Will Jonah repent? We are left wondering. That reminds me of the parable of the prodigal son. It ended the same way as Jonah. The prodigal son repented and returned but his elder brother went into a sulk because their father threw a party for the younger son who returned. At the end of the parable, the elder son is still outside the house refusing to go in to join the party to celebrate his younger brother’s return (Luke 15:28-32). Will he go into the house to celebrate? We are left wondering, like we are left wondering about Jonah.
In examples of repentance in Scripture, we see one constant: repentance is met by the love of God. The repentance of the Ninevites is met by the mercy of God. The repentance of the woman in the house of Simon the Pharisee is met by the love and forgiveness of Jesus. So there are two people involved in repentance: us and God. Our repentance meets the mercy and love of God. Our repentance is welcomed by the forgiveness and love of God.
What is repentance? Repentance means changing one’s mind and then one’s changed actions follow—a new outlook leads to new behavior. St. Paul was, we might say, constantly calling for repentance and a change of mind. In his letter to the Romans, he wrote,
Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect (Rom 12:2)
I think that gets to the heart of it: not to think like this age but being renewed in mind so that we can discern the will of God. How might we do that? Jesus gives us the answer in todays’ Gospel excerpt: he said, believe in the Gospel (Mark 1:15). So instead of thinking like this age, we are to model our lives on the Gospel.
When Jesus appeared to the apostles in the Upper Room on Easter Sunday evening, Luke tells us Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45). When reading and meditating on Scripture, we encounter Jesus and his words which transform us. On this third Sunday every year, Pope Francis has asked us to think on the role of the Bible in our lives. We can understand why he asks us to do this. The word of God in the Bible purifies us from the thinking of this age. In the letter to Titus we read, “To the clean all things are clean, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is clean; in fact, both their minds and their consciences are tainted.” (Titus 1:15) We have all experienced this; those without faith cannot understand what motivates us and accuse us of not living in the real world. We do live in the real world, the world of Jesus. We do so by allowing ourselves to be transformed by the words of Jesus and the grace of repentance, and to be met by the love and mercy of God.
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2024
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for the Third Sunday of Year B
Being formed and changed by the Word of God 2021
Repent and be happy! 2018
Our deepest desire and Jesus’ call to us 2015
Following Jesus begins in your mind
Related Homilies: Earlier call of the first disciples in John’s Gospel 2024
stories of repentance conversion vocation
Sunday of the Word of God