the christian tradition proclaims three advent figures who help us prepare the way for the lord. the first is john the baptist; and we hear him today proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (mk 1, 4). the other is the blessed virgin mary who time and time again in her apparitions consistently calls on us to “repent and reform our lives.” the last advent figure is the holy spirit and he speaks o us today through our bishops. the bishop of rome, our holy father names the root of the present global financial crisis as greed and sinfulness. benedict 16 calls on us to repent of this sin and reform our lives. the bishops of the philippine church are one in calling the country to repent and live according to the gospel.
why are our advent figures, namely john the baptist, the blessed virgin mary and the holy spirit through the bishops all are calling on to us to repent and reform our lives? what will this call to acknowledge our sinfulness and reforming ourselves accomplish? why will the gospel given the present darkness in our lives call on us to do a very simple act of repentance?
there is a hidden truth about sinfulness that we need to bring to the fore; it is also blindness. sin impedes us from seeing our contribution to the darkness that is marking our world and history. sin is also the failure to see what we give to humanity and our story.
i once chance upon two lovers on board with me in a jeepney that was roaming around manila. they were loudly chatting to each other and once in a while called attention to the mountains of garbage around the city. the boy commented on how much the city is polluted and dirty. the girl chided in and even asked his boyfriend to promise her that they will never settle down in a city that is so shabby and littered. after a while, the boy took out a couple of candies. he gave one to his girlfriend and once they got the caramel out, both threw the wrapper outside the vehicle. both were aware of the dirtiness of the city and both were blind to what they were contributing to the pollution in the city. they failed to see that the dirt they threw out of the vehicle is a participation in the growing dirt and shabbiness around them! such is the nature of sinfulness; we fail to see our contribution in the problem. sometimes we fail too see how our personal actions are connected with the growing mountain of a concern!
that is why the call of our gospel today is so important. given our present context of burgeoning problems and heavy worries, given the present state of our history, the call to repentance is a chance for us to acknowledge our contribution to the problem. how are we participating in the sway of darkness and sinfulness that is marking our present reality? how are we partaking of the growing darkness?
once we admit to ourserlves that our actions contribute to the growth of the problem, the admission in itself is the advent of light in the darkness. once we acknowledge our sins, then we are freed also to choose to stop our giving in to darkness and even start to contribute to the victory of the light! once we are aware of our participation in the development of the concern then we can stop from doing so. and when our eyes are opened to this truth then we can also choose to give our participation to god who is our light! hence the complete call this sunday is to turn away from our sins and reform our lives!
the first step to real change is the acknowledgment of the problem. so many roads to reform are familiar with this truth. the true step towards the light is admission of our part in the darkness. that is the spark of light in this history marked by fear, poverty and concern. the call of the gospel is timely.
