Repent and Believe in the Gospel

The first recorded words of Jesus occur in the first chapter of Mark’s Gospel. While the other Synoptic Gospels of Matthew and Luke begin with infancy narratives, Mark’s Gospel “hits the ground running” by starting with the public ministry of Jesus. This account, believed by scholars to be the first of the four Gospels, is also the shortest.

After introducing John the Baptist and his message of repentance, Mark’s Gospel recounts Jesus being baptized by him and then led into the desert by the Holy Spirit. Just as the sacrament of Baptism precedes Faith’s journey in the life of the Christian, so too this important event precedes Jesus’ ministry. As a means of preparation for His public ministry, Jesus submits to the mysterious promptings that will prepare Him for the mission that is to come.

The Call to Repent

The forty days of Lent in the liturgical year mirror the forty days Jesus spent in the desert. After the baptism of Jesus, the following is recorded in the twelfth verse of chapter one:

The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:12-15 RSVCE)

“Repent and believe in the Gospel” could be paraphrased as “Turn away from sin and turn toward God.” If these first recorded words sound familiar, it is because they are used on Ash Wednesday as one of the formulations as we receive ashes on our foreheads as a sign of our repentance.

Confession and Reconciliation

The primary means of turning away from sin and turning toward God for Catholics is the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We are free to avail ourselves of the healing grace particular to this gift from Our Lord daily if necessary. We confess our sins to God and receive absolution along with sacramental grace essential for our spiritual sustenance.

The word sin, both in Hebrew and Greek, means “missing the mark.” A commonly used analogy for sin involves an archer and a target. The “bullseye” is the love of God and neighbor. The shots that land close to the center could represent venial sin, while those that miss the target altogether could be considered to be more severe or mortal.

A good examination of conscience is the necessary first step in identifying sin in its many forms. Contrition, confession, and absolution set the penitent on the path toward love and forgiveness. An excellent definition of the Christian love to which we aspire can be found in the letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians:

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1Corinthians 13:4-7 NRSVCE)

The Greatest Commandments

Love, then, comes from God and exists within and among the three persons of the Blessed Trinity in infinite purity. Human beings, in temporal time and as finite creatures, are invited to grow in this agape love. Love of God and love of neighbor are the “mark” for which we aim and the goal of Christian life. Indeed, this love is the summation of the ten commandments. Jesus explains in scripture how all of the law and prophets hinge on these two great commandments of love:

When the Pharisees heard that [Jesus] had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:34-40 NRSVCE)

Let us pray to turn away from sin and turn toward God as we approach the season of Lent in a spirit of repentance, forgiveness, and belief in God’s mercy.