REPENT! WHAT HAVE I FAILED TO DO?

We have all experienced the good feeling of going to confession and receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation when we have sinned against God or our neighbours.  We are usually aware of all types of sins that we commit – lying, gossiping, being angry and hateful, being unfaithful, stealing, and so forth.  We know that some sins are very serious and others are only slight offences.  Sometimes we are conscious that we have committed the same sin again and again – even our little inner voice echoes: “I’ve done it again!”  This way of being aware of our sinfulness can be well developed within us.

In the great prayer that we Christians have, the Lord’s Prayer, the Our Father, we ask for forgiveness and for special graces in difficult situations.  For instance, we ask God in this prayer: 1) Lord, forgive us all our trespasses; 2); lead us not into temptation; and 3) deliver us from all evil.  But we should also check ourselves and see how we have sinned against God and our neighbours by failing to do what we were supposed to do.  Yes, we can sin by not doing something!  Remember that we pray at the start of the Mass: “I confess to Almighty God…for what I have done and for what I have failed to do.”

So you and I should examine ourselves and ask whether there are things that we should be doing by reason of our calling to follow Christ but what we in fact are neglecting to do.  For example, a man might not be unfaithful to his wife by committing adultery, but he is neglectful of his duties as husband and father by not spending time at home and contributing to the needs of the family.  Or the woman might not be negatively gossiping about her neighbours but she also is not positively encouraging the neighbours when she sees the difficulties they face.

We can fail to do what we should do by deliberately refusing to reconcile with each other after some troubles and misunderstandings.  How often do we hear these words spoken, even in a Christian community:  “Iwe sitinga kambisane mpaka kumanda!”  -- you and I cannot talk until we reach the graveyard!

In our first reading of today, Isaiah the Prophet reminds us that God wants to fulfil his plan through you and me.  So there are things in our local Small Christian Community, in our parish, in our neighbourhood and in our country that we should be doing so that God’s plan really goes forward, his plan of love, peace and justice.  What should we be doing wherever we are in order to create a better society around us?

St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans, our second reading, encourages us to glorify God by treating each other the way that Christ treats us and to be tolerant with each other.  That requires an openness to dialogue, to an honest and non-threatening exchange of ideas and opinions.  Really, it is scandalous to live in a community where there is no dialogue, no patience to hear others’ views while we share our own views.  Too bad that here in Zambia we have politics of so many inter-party squabbles and intra-party conflicts!  There will be no progress if that continues….!

The Lunda have a proverb that tells us, “Kuma kwejiya kumutakalela”  -- the pool of water dries out by draining.  If we want a peaceful Zambia, we must work together to remove all forms of activities that threaten our peace.  And some of those activities are things we neglect to do – like caring for the poor, being sensitive to those with HIV/AIDS, visiting the elderly and often-forgotten members of our family, spending extra time to improve our church programmes, and so forth.

One of the serious threats to our peace in Zambia is a growing sense of tribalism.  This can occur in rural areas and in towns.  It tends to disintegrate our communities.  In our working places, in our schools, in our neighbourhoods, even in our churches, we stop seeing each other as equal human beings with equal dignity before God.  We ignore the teaching of Genesis 1: 27, that “all women and men are created in the image and likeness of God.”  Instead we deliberately decide to see each other through “ethnic lenses,” glasses that bring out the looks of different tribes!

As we all know, the great figure of the Advent Season is John the Baptist.  In the Gospel reading of today, from the Gospel of Matthew, John the Baptist is calling us to true repentance.  This repentance cannot be simply lip activity – mouthing the words, “Oh, I am so sorry!” – but it must produce good fruits and real changes in our lives.  It is a moment of grace that results not only in turning away from sin but also in turning towards God.  And that requires that we are not only sorry for what we have done but for what we have not done.

There are so many political challenges today here in Zambia – getting a good new Constitution from all the people, electing leaders who really serve the people and not themselves, putting the right priorities into our national budget so that the lives of the poor are improved, and so forth.  It doesn’t make any difference if we belong to MMD, or UNIP, or UPND, or PF, or FFD, or PUDD, or any of the other dozens of political parties!  We all must work together as a family so that we can live that wonderful vision of our Independence, a peaceful and just Zambia.  The Chewa proverb tells us: “Dziko siipa, oipa ndi anthu!” -- the country is not evil, it is the people who are evil!  So we have to examine whether we neglect to put into practice the demands, the requirements, of our great national motto: “One Zambia, One Nation!”

This Advent Season, we can ask ourselves privately what we neglect to do as individuals to improve our family lives, the life of our church and the politics of our country.  And we can ask ourselves in our Small Christian Communities about the things that we neglect to do to help our relatives who are poor, to improve the situation in our neighbourhood and to bring more political justice and peace in our country.  Remember that we pray for forgiveness not only for what we do but also for what we neglect to do!   “I confess to Almighty God…for what I have done and for what I have failed to do.”  That is true repentance!

SKETCH

We see a confession situation where a man is kneeling before the priest.  He confesses that he has committed adultery and he has stolen some property from a neighbour. He smiles that he has made a good confession.  But then the priest asks him when did he visit a sick person in the hospital?  When did he share his food with a poor person?  When did he spend extra time helping out in church activities?  Now he looks a bit sad. He is therefore encouraged by the priest to go and do good deeds in the community.

COMMUNITY PRAYERS

·         Lord Jesus, give us your grace to transform our lives so that we work to unite our church into a community of peace and justice.  Lord, hear us: Lord, graciously hear us!

·         Lord Jesus, show us how we neglect to do what you want us to do and teach us how to share the good things you give to us.  Lord, hear us: Lord, graciously hear us!

·         Loving God, give us political leaders who really want to serve the people with humility, honesty and courage so that Zambia can develop in a way that benefits all the people.  Lord, hear us: Lord, graciously hear us!

[Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection, P.O. Box 37774, 10101 Lusaka, Zambia]