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Welcome to St. Thomas More Parish
Our mission is to become the real presence of Christ through prayer, education, worship and service
GOD SO LOVED HE GAVE
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Bishop Daniel Mueggenborg's Reflection
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Our Scripture passage for this Sunday comes from the Gospel of Matthew 3:1–12. In this passage we are introduced to the person of John the Baptist and his ministry of preparing the way for Jesus. Advent is a time of preparation, and the image of John the Baptist offers some insightful challenges for us as disciples who strive for preparedness of faith in our lives.
The first part of John’s preaching calls on the crowds to repent. The word “repent” comes from the Greek word metanoia and literally means to “re-think” or “change one’s mind”. John preaches this message because our actions stem from our thoughts. If we want to change our lives, we have to change our thinking first. The call to repent is the invitation to see things from God’s perspective and to take on the “mind of Christ” (as St. Paul describes it in 1 Cor 2:16). When we see the situations of our lives from God’s point of view, we will correctly prioritize our values and respond in a Christ-like way to the situations we face. Being a disciple is not a matter of following rules and regulations or just external observances. Rather, it is a matter of living in deep communion with God and expressing that communion in the way we act. Repentance is a good thing. There is both an inherent relationship and a difference between the moments of conversion and repentance in a person’s life. Conversion means to “turn towards” the Lord and occurs in moments when a person’s life is re-directed toward God. These moments can be born from a realization of God’s presence, God’s Love, and God’s forgiveness. Conversion occurs when we willingly refocus our lives on God. However, conversion must be lived out in practical actions so that our lives are, indeed, conformed to Christ Jesus and the Gospel. As we undertake each change, each step, we come closer to being conformed to the Lord. Repentance is the process of progressing in closeness to God through a life evermore conformed to the Gospel. The teachings of Jesus and our Lord’s way of life are meant to inspire us so that we will follow wherever He leads us. Most people think of the term repentance in a penitential sense and so believe it to involve actions of self-denial, self-mortification, amendment of life, and so forth. While the process of repentance may involve these things, as well as other ascetic practices, it is a much more positive process. Its ultimate goal is to bring us to deeper communion with the Lord both in how we think and in what we do.
- How does this teaching on repentance differ from your previous understanding of the term?
- What values and priorities bring you closer to God, and what values and priorities lead you away from God in daily circumstances?
- What is a situation you are facing now that you would like to see from God’s perspective so as to respond with the mind of Christ?
- Repentance is a life-long process for every disciple. What have been some of the significant experiences that have helped you to repent?
- What have been some of the significant experiences that have helped you to redirect your life to God (conversion). .CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE.......
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