“The generosity of God is meant to bring you to repentance…” Romans 2:4

“The generosity of God is meant to bring you to repentance…”

Romans 2:4

In our contemporary world, the theme of repentance is unfortunately used less and less frequently. In a culture that nurtures the illusion of the self-sufficiency of an individual, to think or to speak of repentance is unacceptable.

In an environment of aggressive negative attitudes towards an individual’s religious needs, repentance is perceived as an instrument of manipulation and oppression of dignity, and a factor in the inferiority complexes of a person.

Even many of us Christians are less and less aware of our real need to repent personally. Usually, we direct the need for repentance to others, since we believe that “I personally do not need to change.” Mostly, our prayers to God relate to a need to change in the people around us, but not in ourselves.

However, the theme of repentance in the Gospel teaching is one of the most important for each one. Because it is a natural human need. Repentance is the most precious fruit of a man’s friendship with God. Repentance is the acknowledgment of one’s own mistakes that leads to a change of thought and change of behavior.

God, never intends to demand anything from us for his own benefit. Rather the goodness and the generosity of God bring us to salvation, to perfection, to better quality and fullness of life. This journey requires our gradual voluntary cooperation through repentance, precisely because God respects and appreciates our dignity.

fr. A.R.