Repentance is about being genuinely sorry for the many things that we have done wrong, knowingly or unknowingly. But it goes beyond that: it also involves a firm resolve to avoid repeating the same mistakes. We sometimes come short if we trust ourselves alone to make the changes in our lives. If we allow God into the process of our gradual change, conversion, and choosing a new path, we have a
sense that we are not alone in this journey. As we move away from old ways and embrace a new vision of ourselves and our world, previously unimagined horizons can open up.
Forgiveness of sins is something we give to each other. It is a grace from God and the people we have hurt. We cannot move forward without forgiving a person or group of people for the harm they have done to us. We remain stuck in resentments and
animosities.
Jerusalem, the so-called City of Peace, should be a sign of the peace that prevails when we can forgive and reconcile. Sadly, it is precisely the opposite. The people in the city find it impossible to live up to the lofty name of their city. Besides the immense good that characterises every human society, the outsider sees on the daily news more partisanship, tension, historical resentment, greed, violence and racism
in those 126 square kilometres than anywhere else. Christians are also not exempt from conflicts, even among ourselves. This is unsurprising for a city with holy memories for three world religions, never mind the factions within those religions.
Jesus, looking down on the “Holy Land”, must be weeping in disappointment: so much promise, goodness, and love, yet so much frustration. We all need to repent of our indifference or our
factionalism. Pope Francis quotes Pope Pius XII when he says that “in war, everyone loses”…. even “those who did not take part in it and who, in cowardly indifference, stood by and watched this horror without intervening to bring peace… no one is entitled to look the other way.”
Do I repent of my inner violence? Do I take sides even when I have no stake in a conflict? Do I root for the victim or the most powerful? How often do I
plead with God for the gift of reconciliation?
Reflections by Fr Peter Knox, SJ
