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| David Letterman |
(Second Sunday of Advent (A): This homily was given on
December 8, 2019 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond
Suriani. Read Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm
72:1-17; Romans 15:4-9; Matthew 3:1-12.)
[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Second Sunday of Advent 2019]
Comedian David Letterman was well-known for his “Top Ten
Lists.” He shared them periodically on
his late night television program. Well,
today I will offer you my variation on this theme, by sharing with you my Top
Ten Reasons to Repent.
I don’t think Letterman ever did that during his career.
Of course, there is one big difference between his top ten
lists and mine: his were meant to move people to laughter (and they usually
did!); mine is designed to move people to seek God’s forgiveness for their
sins, especially in the sacrament of Reconciliation.
So here they are—Fr Ray’s Top Ten Reasons to Repent:
Reason #10: Because
John the Baptist told us to in today’s gospel reading from Matthew 3, and John
was—in the words of Jesus Christ—“the greatest man ever born of woman.” I think it’s a sign of wisdom to follow the
advice of a person that Jesus thought so highly of!
Reason #9 why it’s good to repent: Because repentance is necessary to receive the Holy Spirit, whose
fruits are things like joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness
and self-control”—all of which we should want in our lives. When the crowds heard Peter preach on
Pentecost Sunday they were deeply moved and they said to him, “What must we
do?” Peter said, “You must repent”—those
were his very first words—“You must repent and be baptized for the forgiveness
of your sins; THEN you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2: 38)
Repentance is always a precondition for receiving the Spirit and the
many good things the Spirit brings into our lives.
Reason #8 why it’s good to repent: Because repentance makes room in our heart for God. As Bishop Sheen used to put it, “If you fill
a box with salt, you cannot fill it with pepper.” In other words, to the extent that our heart
is filled with sin, to that extent it cannot be filled with God’s grace and
love.
Reason #7 why it’s good to repent: Because repentance improves our relationships with other people—by the
very fact that it improves us! Do
you enjoy being around people who never admit that they’ve done anything
wrong? I don’t know about you, but those
are the people I try to stay away from!
People who will admit when they’re wrong and say they’re sorry—those are
the people I enjoy spending time with.
Reason #6 why repentance is good: Because it brings us inner peace—and helps to bring about peace between
us and others. I think every priest
can tell you stories of men and women who have made good confessions and then
breathed a big, audible sigh of relief after they’ve been absolved. They’ve repented in a deep and genuine way,
and they experience a burst of peace in their hearts.
“Ahh!”
And, of course, if you have a situation where two people hurt
one another deeply and then both repent individually, there’s a very good
chance that they will eventually be reconciled to one another. The chance of reconciliation is much less if
only one repents—or if neither does.
Reason #5 why repentance is good: Repentance brings with it self-knowledge. The person who recognizes his faults and
admits them knows his true self. The
prideful person who never repents doesn’t know his true self (or perhaps he
just doesn’t want to know his true self).
Reason #4 to repent: Since
we’re all sinners, repentance is the only path to holiness! If we weren’t sinners, it would be a
different story—but we are. Therefore
it’s only by seeking forgiveness for our sins that we can move spiritually from
where we are right now to where God wants us to be.
Reason #3 why repentance is good: It doesn’t cost anything (except a little humility and honesty)—which
should be very good news in these challenging economic times!
Reason #2 to repent: Because
Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Savior of the world, told us to! In fact, it was the very first command he
gave us in his public ministry: “Repent, and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1: 15)
And, finally, the #1 reason to have true, genuine repentance
in your heart: Because without it, you
can’t possibly get into heaven! No
repentance—no forgiveness—no eternal life!
This, believe it or not, is where I will end my homily
today. By my standards, I think you’ll
agree, it was rather short. Ah, but the
real question is: Was it successful?
I wish I could tell you the answer to that question, but,
unfortunately, I can’t.
Only you can.
Remember what I said earlier: David Letterman’s top ten
lists were meant to move people to laughter; my list here is designed to move
people to seek God’s forgiveness for their sins, especially in the sacrament of
Reconciliation.
Will that happen?
Only you can decide.
So my personal prayer today is that you will make this
homily—that I worked so hard to prepare!—successful by your repentance and by
your resolution to make a good confession sometime in the very near future.
