On this Third Sunday of Easter, we hear in our second reading from the first letter of St. John that Jesus is expiation for our sins and for those of the whole world and that we can know the Lord by keeping his commandments. St. John also says “those who say ‘I know him’ but do not keep his commandments are liars and the truth is not in them”. We need to keep the ten commandments and all the teachings of Jesus and of the Church in our minds and in our hearts as we lead our lives daily in this world. Saint John’s words are quite direct, but sometimes we need to hear such language to set us on the path of repentance and forgiveness.
Last week , we heard the gospel account from John 20 about Jesus’ appearance to the Apostles and disciples who were hiding for fear of the same fate as Jesus. Today we hear the account from Luke 24 and Jesus tells them that “repentance , for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations.”
Repentance and forgiveness are not always the easiest topics for us as human beings. Our conscience may tell us clearly that we have sinned, but we may be too stubborn to listen to our conscience and therefore too stubborn to repent and change our ways. God is always willing to forgive us our sins, we just need to repent and seek his forgiveness.
The Catechism, paragraph 1431 describes interior repentance as “a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart, an end of sin, a turning away from evil, with repugnance toward the evil actions we have committed. At the same time it entails the desire and resolution to change one’s life, with hope in God’s mercy and trust in the help of his grace.” This is what the Lord wants for all of us so he can forgive us and we can start anew.
P.S. I apologize for this being only in English this week.
Happy Easter!
Rev. Robert Pope, Parochial Vicar