I love to play music. Specifically, I love to play bluegrass music on the five-string banjo. In seminary I and a friend of mine started a folk/bluegrass band. We’d usually play 2 or 3 shows a semester for the community. We had a great time! One of the things I learned about when I was in the band is the importance of continually committing myself to the work of being a musician. I didn’t just want to be an ok musician, I wanted to be a good and even a great musician. This meant that I would have to put in lots of time for practicing outside of our rehearsals and shows. The harder I practiced during our “off time,” the better we sounded during our shows. However, there were many times when I thought to myself “you know, I’m tired. I’ve got so much other work to do. I sound good enough. I don’t really need to practice.” There was the temptation to just coast and it was a continual battle to change my mind every day. I had to change the way I viewed my practice time. I had to change my mindset from “it’s good enough” to giving it my all.
In the Gospel today Jesus sends out His apostles two by two to bring healing and freedom to whom they minister. He gives them authority over unclean spirits and so they are able to drive out many demons. They anoint sick people with oil and cure them. We see also that an essential part of the apostles’ mission was to preach repentance. In fact, that’s the first thing the text says they did. “They went off and preached repentance.” From this we can undestand that healing, freedom, and restoration are all acts that flow from repentance.
This word repentance is used quite a bit in the New Testament. The word appears twenty-four times. The Greek word which is translated as “repentance” means more than to simply stop sinning. To stop sinning is an essential part of repentance but there is a deeper meaning. Repentance in Scripture literally means “to change one’s mind.” To repent means not only to change one’s actions but to change the way we think about and look at sin. Repentance involves a change in worldview, understanding that we are at war with principalities and powers that are otherworldly. Howoften do we think about this truth? It is easy to float through life and forget that the world we see is enmeshed in a world unseen. We live in this world but the work of repentance involves rooting our hearts and minds in the world unseen. This is a daily decision, a daily choice one must make. And this work of repentance is more than wallowing in good-ole Catholic guilt.
Feeling bad about sins is not the same as repentance. Conversion and remorse, while not opposed to each other, are two different things. Remorse, the feeling of guilt towards sin, is not the action of repenting. Repentance involves the will. Changing our mindset and repenting of our sins is not merely to feel more guilt over our sins but rather it is to change our view of sin and to turn away from it by an act of the will. We can choose to live with our minds and hearts rooted in the world unseen regardless of how we feel.
To repent means that if there is a sin in your life that you struggle with that you change your mind against it and act accordingly. To repent is to go from the mindset “I’m doing good enough” to giving your all and striving for holiness. It means that we see that God wants us to be “all in” for Him and that He wants us to make Him Lord over every aspect of our lives. Repentance means turning our hearts to Jesus who came to destroy all sin and death. It is not about merely feeling bad about sins and trying harder to change (which are still very good qualities) but rather it is changing our worldview and our actions so that there is no place for sin in our lives, realizing that we are in a battle and we must take no captives. This work is not something that is a one and done deal but rather it is something which must be done again and again and again. Repentance is an ongoing process in the Christian life which involves constantly turning away from sin and fixing our focus on Jesus.
What this might look like is examining our hearts to see if there is any attachment to sin. Are we complacent with our sins? Are we doing just good enough or are we leaving no room for sin in our lives? Do I realize and believe that I am made for more than what I can see in this world? Asking these questions can help reorient our minds and hearts back to God.
Again, we see that when Jesus out His apostles there was healing and restoration that followed repentance. Repentance brings healing into our lives. Repentance brings restoration. This is the Gospel message. Jesus wants to restore us and heal us from our sins but this involves repentance. If you want healing, restoration, and interior freedom in your life then repent of your sins. Change your mind, your worldview towards sin, and turn to Jesus which is an ongoing and daily process. However the more that we turn to Jesus in repentance the more He is able to work in our lives. In the words of Pope Benedict XVI, “Holiness does not consist in never having erred or sinned. Holiness increases the capacity for conversion, for repentance, for willingness to start again and, especially, for reconciliation and forgiveness” (The Apostles: The Origin of the Church and Their Coworkers, 157).