Lent 4
March 15, 2015
The Journey from
Repentance to Union
St. Mary
of Egypt is a somewhat-obscure but fascinating saint. She lived in the fifth
century and, when she was 12 years old, ran away from home to the bustling
metropolis of Alexandria, making her living as a prostitute. After many years
of prostitution, an opportunity arose. Through the grapevine, she heard that
some of the people in her town were making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Mary
joined them – not out of any devotion, but simply as an excuse to travel and
see the world a bit. Upon reaching Jerusalem, she tried to visit the beautiful
churches with the rest of the pilgrims, just to admire the artwork. But as she
tried to enter the church of the Holy Sepulcher – built upon the tomb where
Jesus was laid – she was prevented by an unseen force from taking another step.
She immediately realized that she was unable to enter the holy church because
of her sinful lifestyle, so she repented on the spot. She cried out to God for
mercy, and He heard her pleas, allowing her to enter the church and view the
relics of the True Cross. Once there, she went to confession and communion, and
spent the rest of her life as a hermit in the wilderness, living a life of
penance to atone for her sins.
Having a
relationship with Jesus takes three steps. First, we must repent – we must turn
away from our sins. Sin prevents our souls from receiving the divine life that
God wants to give us. In today’s Gospel, Jesus uses the image of light and
darkness. The two are completely opposed – we can’t have a room that is both
full of light and pitch-black at the same time. Likewise, we cannot abide in
God’s grace if we are sinful. So, like St. Mary of Egypt, we turn from our sins
and beg God for His mercy, which is never-ending.
Second,
we must decide. We must decide to give our lives to Jesus Christ. The Gospel
puts it this way, in perhaps the most famous verse of all of the Scriptures: “God
so loved the world that He sent His only Son, so that those who believe in Him
will not die but will have eternal life.” We must believe in Him – not just in the sense of “yes, Jesus existed” but
in the sense of “yes, Jesus died for my sins and therefore my whole life must
be lived for His glory.”
It’s
kind of like this: there are many things that I believe but that don’t impact
my life all that much. I believe that the Great Wall of China exists, but does
that change my everyday life? Not really. But there are many other things I
believe that change my life drastically. For example, I believe that the secret
to good health is to have a well-balanced diet and frequent exercise. Because I
believe that, it changes my choices, my habits, my whole way of thinking.
When
Jesus says that those who “believe in Him will never die”, that’s the kind of
belief He means. Many people say, “Yes, I believe in Jesus” but that belief
doesn’t change their lives. Our belief must be the focal point of our entire lives,
every choice, every habit.
So,
after we repent and decide, the third step is to follow. To follow means two
things: first, we must obey Him and His moral commands, even the ones we find
difficult. Second, it means we must seek after intimacy with Him through a life
of prayer. Not just praying to get stuff from God, but praying to know God as a
friend and to know His heart.
These
are the three basic steps to having a personal relationship with Christ. We
must repent of our sins, turn away from our past transgressions. We must decide
– make the choice to give our entire lives to Him. And we must follow –
orienting our entire lives towards Him, for He is the creator of our life and in
Him does our life find meaning and fulfillment.
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