Lent 3 (year C)

Jesus' aim in today’s Gospel lesson is to remind all people that God's plan of salvation from spiritual blindness and spiritual death into the freedom of spiritual awakening and kingdom living calls all people to repent. Repentance is the personal decision and act of changing one's mind and behavior. It means turning from the belief in and bondage to that which is sinful and erroneous, and turning within to the freedom and liberty of Christ, the Image of God, who is righteous, true and eternal. Christ-centered repentance brings reconciliation with God and one another to all people.

Repentance when accompanied with Christ-centered affirmative thinking provides sure keys to transforming of the human heart and brings the realization of abundant and eternal life through kingdom living. True repentance includes rejecting the dominion of the worldly, mortal, carnal and fleshly mind and in its place embracing the dominion of the mind of Christ, the spiritual man. In means denying self, taking up one's cross daily and following Jesus Christ as our way shower, into the spiritual kingdom of God, which is forever within us and in our midst.

Christ-centered repentance and submitting to God’s will are personal paths which every person can and must eventually take to gain forgiveness of sins and more fully experience God’s presence, healing, nurture, strength, guidance, blessing, love and life. Jesus calls to repentance in Luke 13:1-9, therefore carry not only historical significance, but also deep present significance for all people. They embody the profound inner spiritual meaning of properly appropriating the Gospel of Christ and living the Paschal Mystery.

In today's epistle, the apostle Paul follows Jesus' admonition in calling the Corinthians to Christ-centered repentance. In the book of Romans chapter eight, he again remind us to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason Paul stresses that the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law - indeed it cannot and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.


To Jesus and Paul, repentance therefore must involve breaking away from worldly, carnal and mortal thought and in its place ascending into the spiritual thought realm through faith in God’s Presence, as Christ and the Holy Spirit, through the spiritual dimension of our lives. God transforms the human heart through baptism of the human spirit, mind, emotions, relationships and body into Christ, the Holy Spirit and fire. Christ-centered spiritual mindedness is the sure way to direct inner spiritual communion with Our Father, Christ, and the Holy Spirit and each other through our spiritual cores.

As an iconoclast, Jesus spent a great deal of time maintaining this intimate communion with God and the people he ministered to by the steadfast practices of solitude, prayer, meditation and contemplation. Not only did he expose the hidden deception, devastation and destruction of worldly, mortal and carnal minded religious thinking, he also revealed how Christ-centered spirituality can be practiced in all the world religions and by those who profess to have no religion. Saint and sinner alike can repent and imitate the spiritual mindedness demonstrated by Jesus Christ.

Through regular study of ancient wisdom literature and commitment to open minded Christ-centered discussion and dialogue we can all find liberation from bondage and slavery to sin. Under the direction of the indwelling Christ and the Holy Spirit, all people are now understanding and putting into daily practice, the universal, inner spiritual meaning of repentance stressed in today’s scripture readings. Jesus taught that repentance and Christ-centered spiritual mindedness are God’s sure ways to convert human hearts, change personal lives, transform our communities, establish nations for God’s glory and turn our planet into the kingdom of God.

By daily practicing personal repentance and Christ-centered spiritual mindedness as taught and modeled by Jesus Christ, we can confidently face the future assured of God’s forgiveness, nurture, love, strength, guidance and blessing. We can dwell in the spiritual kingdom of God, now in our midst and within us. We can seek and obtain the promises of abundant and eternal life in Christ and be empowered by the Holy Spirit in living the Paschal Mystery.

Angel of the Week: ‘Responsibility’

Prayer for the week: ‘Sound Judgment Governs My Thoughts and Actions’