Some
Thoughts on the Liturgy
THE
IMPORTANCE OF REPENTANCE
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Jesus was the Son of God and obviously in no need of any
baptism of repentance
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here in Matthew’s account of the Baptism, Jesus gives the
reason for his Baptism, telling John the Baptist:
Allow
it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all
righteousness.
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it is difficult to understand this English translation, but
I believe that its meaning is: it
is right that the people see the importance of the baptism
of repentance
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if Jesus is rightfully going to be one of us, and if people
are to see the importance of the baptism for repentance,
then he must be baptized
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Archbishop Naumann in his Call to Share letter in the
bulletin opens with the religious belief that Baptism is
the most important day of a Christian’s life
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as Christian people, therefore on this feast of the Baptism
of Jesus, we should concentrate on why our Baptism is so
important
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it is not only that we will stay out of hell, something
most of us had drilled into our minds,
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but, in Jesus’ mind, before
we can accomplish the things of Christianity—following
him, accepting his Kingdom,
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we have to admit a need for Baptism, that is, for
repentance first
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most of us do not remember our Baptism, and so we must call
it to mind again
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the reason we were baptized is to draw us to an
understanding of our need for repentance
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and so in the prayer that he taught us, the Our Father, he
says that we ought to pray “Forgive us our sins”—that
is, ask for repentance
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some reflections on “repentance” are in order
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In the section of the Catechism that comments on the Our
Father, the authors become particularly strong when
speaking of personal repentance
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I have placed this excerpt in your bulletin, and I hope you
take the time to read it
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I find this to be a really challenging section in the
Catechism
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the Catechism actually becomes passionate in its approach
to this idea of personal repentance, using very strong
language
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this
petition is astonishing (Catechism’s
words)
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our
petition—namely “forgive us our trespasses”, will not
be heard unless we have first met the strict requirement of
forgiving each other
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astonishing because there are many who will not forgive
others
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I have heard in my ministry: “I cannot forgive so and so”
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our petition looks to the future, but our response must
come first
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and what better way to do that than by participating in
some way in the program of the Archdiocese that is named
“Call to Share”
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this is our way to show in a sense that we love everyone
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this
is daunting (again,
Catechism’s words)
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God’s outpouring of mercy cannot penetrate our hearts as
long as we have not forgiven those who have trespassed
against us
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love, like the Body of Christ, is indivisible
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we cannot love the God we cannot see if we do not love the
brother or sister we do see:
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if we refuse to forgive our brothers and sisters, our
hearts are closed and our hardness makes us impervious to
the Father's merciful love
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but in confessing our sins, our hearts are opened to God’s
grace
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there
is no limit or measure to this essentially divine
forgiveness—
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forgiveness must extend to everyone: "Owe no one
anything, except to love one another." (Romans 13:8)
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Jesus knew that the Kingdom he preached could only come, if
people admitted the possibility of sinfulness in their
lives
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and so he tells John the Baptist: this baptism is the right
thing to do because I want them to see how important it is
to ask for repentance, that is, to forgive our sins
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we are baptized and say “forgive us our sins” but the
condition before we can expect an answer is that first, we
forgive others.
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