Blog & Pastor Letters

Repentance and the Gift of Second Chance

12-08-2019Weekly ReflectionRev. Victor C. Yakubu

As a parent, your behavior towards your children should always be the best. You can be harsh with friends, but in your home, you should be gentle with your children by loving them tenderly. In fact, you treat those you love with kindness and complete tolerance. Children by their nature learn quickly from those around them, and especially parents who are the closest to them. Every child usually reflects his parent's character or perhaps the character of both.

When teaching your children, you let them know what is good or evil. They make mistakes . But your instinct as a parent is to forgive, to tolerate, and to focus on your job of teaching good behavior. The ability to offer your children a second chance does not degrade your role as a parent, but it enhances the bonds within the family so the strong can help the weak. That is what family is all about: loving, supporting, and caring for each other. For this reason, parents should lead their children with good examples in words and in deeds.

God as our Father does not condemn us because we forgot to say, 'grace after meals,' neither will he send a meteorite from heaven to fall on us for not attending Mass on Sunday. He still loves us and wishes that we would remember to change our attitudes.

The season of advent is all about repentance in all aspects of our lives, from not praying after a meal to avoiding Mass on Sunday for no justifiable reasons. God knows our weaknesses, so he decided to send Jesus into the world to offer us a second chance. The Prophet Isaiah says, "Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips." The words of the Prophet Isaiah offer us an opportunity to change because the justice of God will fall on the faithful and the faithless children.

John the Baptist made repentance the central point of his preaching before the coming of Jesus. He says, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." The coming of God's Kingdom will come as a surprise to many people who refuse to take the offer for repentance. If he were not patient, the punishment of the world would be blistering. Yet, he gives to each soul an opportunity to repent and to be the best loving parents of their children.

St. Paul embraced God's offer of a second chance on the way to Damascus. He repented of his outrages and became a changed person for the rest of his life. He writes, "For I say that Christ became a minister of the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, to confirm the promises to the patriarchs, but so that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy." God's mercy to every sinner who repents is abundant and embraces the chance to live a new life in Christ.

The lesson for this week is linked to our final exit from this world. The purpose of life is not about intolerance towards others, but about consideration for others in their weaknesses. God does not want a soul to be lost; rather he wants salvation for you. He calls everyone by name, and he says to him or her, 'I know you, repent now for tomorrow may be too late.'

Today God calls you to a new approach because heaven's family is about love, support, and care. The Prophet Isaiah says, "There shall be no more harm or ruin on all of my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord, as water covers the sea." He describes this as the period when the lion will lie down with the calf. The wolf and the lamb will eat hay like the ox. It is a complete period of change, bliss, and total serenity before the creator. Before Jesus comes, think about how you can change for the sake of your wife, your husband, your children, and friends, for tomorrow may be too late. Keep praying!

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