{"id":1881,"date":"2022-12-09T08:11:24","date_gmt":"2022-12-09T14:11:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.abideinlove.com\/wp\/?p=1881"},"modified":"2022-12-09T08:11:26","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T14:11:26","slug":"joyful-repentance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.abideinlove.com\/wp\/?p=1881","title":{"rendered":"Joyful Repentance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Gaudete<\/em>! Rejoice!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 3rd<\/sup> Sunday of Advent is that day when priests around the world boldly don pink vestments and try to convince people they\u2019re actually wearing \u201crose.\u201d Let the pink jokes commence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

More importantly, let the joyful repentance commence. This\nSunday is a reminder to us that repentance and joy are meant to go together!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advent is a penitential season, meaning it is a time for\nrepentance and eager preparation. We are preparing for Christmas, yes, but\nabove all else we long intensely for the coming of Jesus in glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Jesus comes again in full justice, all that is hidden will be made manifest. Each individual and every collective group will have their stories told in full truth, with all the nations assembled to hear it. No longer will the wicked succeed in deluding themselves and others, shading the truth and cloaking their misdeeds in shadow. Jesus will reveal and unveil; Jesus will judge; Jesus will vindicate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hence the penitential nature of Advent. Apart from\nrepentance and mercy, who can possibly stand in the face of his full\ntruth-telling? We began Advent crying out in our longing amidst the darkness,\nhumbly recognizing that we cannot escape the fallenness of this world without a\nSavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we so easily forget that Jesus\u2019 main motive in coming\nagain is to invite us into the eternal wedding feast! He desires to share his\nJOY with us. Just read the Gospels. Notice how many stories take place within\nthe context of a meal, or how many of the parables describe feasting at table.\nOne of the chief accusations against Jesus is that he welcomes sinners and\ndines with them (Luke 15:2).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus proceeds to tell three stories: about the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost sons. The final story (which we tend to call \u201cthe prodigal son\u201d) is addressed directly to the Pharisees and scribes, who are much more like the joyless older son! Both sons have become miserable in their sins. The father\u2019s only interest is to invite them into a feast! He will gladly relinquish any claim of condemnation against them \u2013 if that is their desire. The story ends unconcluded. We don\u2019t get to hear whether or not the older son repents and decides to enter the feast. The bigger question is what each of us will decide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 3rd Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete<\/em> Sunday \u2013 Gaudete<\/em> being Latin for \u201cRejoice!\u201d In places where the Mass is said in Latin, the opening antiphon begins with the chanting of that word Gaudete<\/strong><\/em>, quoting the words of Paul in Philippians 4:4-5:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed,\nthe Lord is near.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rejoice always \u2013 even when the powers of darkness seem to be prevailing. Rejoice always, even when you feel HopeSick<\/strong><\/a>. Rejoice always, even when you find yourself mired in sin and powerless to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lord is near. He is eager to be present to us. Jesus speaks his \u201cI do\u201d to his bride, the Church, at the altar of the Cross. He promises to be faithful in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. Our infidelity doesn\u2019t alter his unconditional commitment to be good to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only does he still love us, but he still invites us to\nfeast with him in joy! We have a hard time wrapping our minds around that invitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Repentance is NOT a matter of feeling bad about\nourselves.  That is shame. Feeling shame\nfollowing sin goes back to our first parents in Eden. It is perhaps normal to\nfeel shame in our shattered state, but more often than not our shame hinders\ntrue repentance. Adam hid from God as from a tyrant. Even in that moment, God\npromised salvation through \u201cthe woman\u201d and her offspring, who will crush the\nhead of the serpent (Genesis 3:15).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We cannot crush the head of the serpent ourselves; we don\u2019t\nhave to. Jesus has already won that victory. He is the lamb of God, who takes\naway the sins of the world. He gladly washes us of our sins in the blood he\npoured out for us. More importantly, he invites us into the wedding feast of\nthe lamb! He desires a one-flesh union with us in the eternal marriage feast!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We feel badly, of course, about what we have done \u2013\nespecially when we see and name the ways in which our sins have harmed others\nand harmed us. Like the prophets, we weep over the ruins of Jerusalem \u2013 caused\nin part by the harm others have done to us, caused in part by the harm in which\nwe have willingly colluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus, in the line of the prophets, also wept over\nJerusalem. He weeps over their sins, yes. Even more, he weeps over the harm\ntheir sins have done. But if we read the text, his greatest grief (like the\nfather in Luke 15) is that they do not desire to receive the love and delight that\nis freely being offered!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tearful repentance and joy are meant to go together. Just as the Paschal Triduum<\/strong><\/a> is one integral celebration, so also our weeping over the ruin caused by sin is meant to be, simultaneously, a joyful entry into the Kingdom as beloved sons and daughters who truly belong there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Catholic and Anglican Tradition, there are Seven\nPenitential Psalms. Depending on your Bible\u2019s Psalm numbering, those are 6, 32,\n38, 51, 102, 130, and 141. They express anguished sorrow over the harm of sin,\nbut they are ultimately songs of joyful repentance.  Psalm 6 begins with tear-filled lament but\nboldly proclaims that God has heard the cry of my weeping (verse 9). There will\nbe swift vindication against my foes. Psalm 51 begins with David\u2019s tearful repentance\nfrom his grave sins. It concludes with tender confidence that David will\njoyfully sing of God\u2019s justice (verse 16) and proclaim his praises (verse 17),\nand that God will rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Psalm 130 cries out from the\ndepths, but proclaims the abundant redemption freely offered by God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the Christian paradox. Sorrow and joy are not\nopposites. In fact, the path of Beatitude invites us to discover joy amidst our\ngrieving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Repentance is not a matter of beating ourselves up until God\nand others feel sorry for us. Rather, repentance invites us to open ourselves\nto both experiences: intense sorrow and intense joy. Truthfully facing what we\nhave done and truthfully acknowledging our ruined human condition \u2013 that takes\ncourage and many tears. Most of us spend most of our life (like the Pharisees\nand scribes) hardening our hearts against the full human experience, preferring\nthe shallowness of legal observance and give-so-I-can-get transactions. When we\nopen ourselves up to true repentance, and to the full depths of grief, we\ndiscover the great surprise of joy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gaudete! Rejoice! The 3rd Sunday of Advent is that day when priests around the world boldly don pink vestments and try to convince people they\u2019re actually wearing \u201crose.\u201d Let the pink jokes commence. More importantly, let the joyful repentance commence. This Sunday is a reminder to us that repentance and joy are meant to go … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Joyful Repentance”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[58,57,55,54],"tags":[99,512,84,167,293,88,514,341,513,77,442],"class_list":["post-1881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-renewal","category-healing","category-scripture","category-spirituality","tag-advent","tag-gaudete","tag-heaven","tag-joy","tag-luke","tag-penance","tag-penitential-psalms","tag-psalms","tag-rejoice","tag-repentance","tag-triduum"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.abideinlove.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Repentance-and-Feasting.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abideinlove.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abideinlove.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abideinlove.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abideinlove.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abideinlove.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1881"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.abideinlove.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1881\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1884,"href":"https:\/\/www.abideinlove.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1881\/revisions\/1884"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abideinlove.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abideinlove.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abideinlove.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abideinlove.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}