“Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed. When the people of Nineveh believed God, they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small put on sackcloth.” “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” The theme for our readings today is clear- the message is for each one of us- we must repent and believe in the Gospel. God, in fact, has always reached out through the prophets to preach repentance.
The prophets for their part however, were usually very reluctant at first; for, noooo body likes to be a prophet-prophets get beat up, or worse! Look at Jonah. God chose the reluctant Jonah to preach repentance to Nineveh. The people of Nineveh were actually Jonah’s enemies; so obviously, he didn’t want them to be spared, and that is why he went the opposite way, at least before the great fish ate him and then spit him out on the right path
When the people of Nineveh heard Jonah’s message, faith was enkindled in their hearts and they believed, and with great urgency repented. Today this Gospel reading from St. Mark has the same message with the same urgency. John the Baptist preaches repentance and Jesus starts his public ministry with the same message, “repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.” As soon as the first disciples hear this message, they immediately turn away from their old ways and follow Jesus. Repentance is the very condition needed to begin to have a right relationship with God in order to reach heaven and be saved.
Too often when we hear repentance I think we think of something negative. In our minds we finish the phrase, “repent…” with you filthy sinners. Then we begin to feel guilty and maybe feel like we are nothing but rotten sinners. But this is not the right way to look at repentance; we should see repentance as something positive. When we repent, it is true we need to acknowledge the fact that we are all sinners, you, me, all of us. We also need to humbly and truthfully admit there are things in our life that we need to change, actions that we are doing that we should not be doing as children of God and temples of the Holy Spirit.
But we have to see repentance as more than just walking away from sin, but see it as walking toward something much greater something more exciting than sin. And that is a right relationship with an almighty, all-powerful, & all loving God--the source of our joy & eternal happiness. Then we actually desire to share that joy and happiness with others both by our words and actions, so that they too may repent and be saved and spend eternity with this incredible and awesome God.
Repentance starts with our hearts. Our hearts need to have the attitude that we are indeed sinners in need of a savior. Only when we see our need can we be open to receive the love and mercy of God- it is not something earned by our own power or by being good enough. This by the way, is the desire of every good priest, not to stand at the pulpit and make his people feel like miserable rotten sinners, but instead to make them recognize their need to repent in order to be filled with the forgiveness and love of God and reach salvation-The priest too knows that he too is in need of repentance. Only those who know they are sick, know they need a doctor. The Holy Spirit convicts us all, even priest, through homilies. But the Holy Spirit does so only so that we will repent and turn to the mercy and forgiveness of our loving Father.
All of this brings up the today’s tragic date, the anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade decision. Roe vs. Wade decision has a lot to do with repentance. Many believers, as they learn more about the facts of abortion and Roe vs. Wade, think that our first spiritual duty in the face of abortion is to pray. But it is not. Our first duty is to repent. God does not simply tell us to stay away from the sin of abortion. He prohibits us from tolerating it and He calls us to become active in fighting it—to be modern day prophets if you will. It is in this area where we all need to repent. We as Americans are all in some way responsible for abortion-it cannot simply be blamed on others. We may not have any direct involvement in abortion but have we failed to witness to the truth of the dignity and worth of every human being born or unborn? So let us examine our conscience:
Have we done acts of penance in reparation for the sin of abortion such as fasting, offering up daily sufferings and crosses or making Holy Hours?
Have we supported the pro-life cause by our time, prayers and money? Have we put our vote were our faith is, and voted pro-life? (there is nothing more important than pro-life, not even the economy; in fact the real reason we are in the economic mess that we are is because we have killed 50million consumers and prevent countless millions to come into existence through artificial birth control).
When the issue of life comes up among our family, friends, and co-workers have we stood up in defense life?
We are the family of God and we are all to be prophets of the truth, like Jonah—we are to all take part in the spiritual battles for souls. For that is what is really most at stake in the abortion battle. And this, as I said begins with our own conversion, with our own recognition of our need for repentance and forgiveness.
But we cannot stop with the conversion of our heart with regards to abortion. The Church calls us to convert our minds as well. This is especially true in the case of abortion. In this battle we have to begin to educate ourselves about the key facts of this horrible holocaust in our world today. Not to educate ourselves is a sin of omission, which we also need to repent of. There is so much misinformation and lies believed by people today; some would like to keep their heads buried in the sand. But the Church has been very, very clear about the evilness of abortion. The Church has always seen the unborn child as a person, with the rights and dignity of any other human being.
There are many excellent websites available to help inform and educate your mind to the truth. One I would recommend is www.SecondLookProject.org. This web site will provide you with the facts about Roe vs. Wade, facts that will surprise you. Also you can visit www.priestsforlife.org/action to learn what you can do (both are in the bulletin). I would also recommend looking at the pictures of abortion. (Example of the holocaust and the German people being force to go into the concentration camps after they were liberated to see the truth of the evil that had occurred). Fr. Frank Provone has said, “Abortion will end when America sees the truth and the horror of abortion.” After viewing images of an abortion on Priestforlife website, one nineteen year old boy said:
"Out of all the video games I have played and all the movies I have ever seen, I have never seen anything more violent than the pictures of these aborted babies." Chris Daly Age: 19 Orlando, Florida
Also available on these websites are links to other web sites, such as one with 3-d and 4-d ultrasound pictures of unborn babies, pictures with incredible detail, one would say miraculous detail, of little babies in the womb. A doctor showed one lady contemplating an abortion the live image of her baby in her womb and the baby actually began to wave its hand at the mother, as if to say, “Hey mom. I am a person in here; don’t do this.” Another picture even shows the heart beating in a baby just four weeks old, another a baby yawning and one a baby jumping around like he is playing. There is just no way you can view these images and not believe it’s a person, a baby in the womb. Talk about being scientific. It’s not a matter of faith to believe that it is a child in the womb from the very beginning of conception; it is a matter of cold hard fact. One has to literally deny reality not to admit the truth.
The more we learn and the more we are informed the more we can repent. And the more we repent and ask for God’s forgiveness grace and mercy the more we are enabled to reflect the teachings of the Church about the dignity of human life, every human life in our personal and public behavior.
Repentance is our indeed our primary duty in the face of the brutality and horror of abortion, but let us also continue to pray, especially before the Blessed Sacrament in reparation for the great tragedy of abortion, a tragedy that destroys lives, not only the lives of babies, but also of mothers and of fathers, and of souls. I invite you to join us here on Monday at noon for adoration of the Jesus during the tolling of the bells for 1 hour in memory of the 10’s of millions have babes who have lost their lives.
One other thing more needs to be said. I am sure everyone here knows someone, a man or a woman who has been involved in some way in the sin of abortion. We need to let them know that we don’t look at them as filthy rotten sinners, but has our brothers and sisters. We don’t hate them, we love them, we pray for them, and we want them to know that through repentance, forgiveness is possible. God is all merciful and Loving Father.
And not only will God in His infinite mercy forgive them, He will send His Holy Spirit to heal them and free them from the horrible burden of guilt they are carrying.
Let us not be reluctant prophets such as Jonah, but let us all be prophets of life, not only to save the lives of the unborn, but to save souls as well. Let us repent, stand up for the truth about life and take action in its defense. Holy Mary, Mother of life,
Mother of the Unborn, Our Lady of Guadalupe, through your powerful intercession help us to end abortion and all crimes against the dignity and sacredness of the human person. Amen.
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