John the Baptist was a man who lived with no fear. Unfettered by the normal dress and food, he lived a radical life, and called others to a life of repentance. But he called them to bear the fruit of repentance. While in the Greek, he say to 'Metanoia' - to repent but literally it means to change one's mind. In the Latin, St. Jerome translates this as 'do penance'. It is too tempting to think that repentance is just a matter of saying sorry, but more is needed. Amendments are needed, even if it is a firm intent not to commit a particular sin. Even so, we need to 'do something' to avoid the sin in the future. It is how we allow the grace of God to have an effect in our lives and to change our minds in a lasting way.
The same principle is at work in discernment. It is not enough to just decided on a course of action. We need to commit to action, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment