December 1983

Bear fruit that befits repentance (Mt. 3:8).

John the Baptist who had been sent by God to prepare the people of Israel for the coming of the Messiah, preached on the banks of the Jordan with words of fire, calling with insistence for repentance.

He administered baptism which was the sign of this change of conduct, and with this baptism Israel was to go to meet the Messiah. Many persons came to John the Baptist to hear his words and to be baptised.

There were those who belonged to the sects of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, who considered that in conscience they were righteous and felt no need for repentance, because they belonged to the chosen people and observed perfectly the external practices laid down by the Mosaic law, but they neglected the spirit of the law.

John the Baptist is particularly severe in tone when he is faced with the Pharisees and Sadducees. "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit that befits repentance."

Bear fruit that befits repentance.

What do these words mean? They mean that you should show proof of a real conversion in practical terms.

The conversion which John the Baptist is demanding, and which after him Jesus demands, is a complete upheaval of our way of living: a 180' turn.

It is a question of putting God at the centre of our life in the place of our self or other earthly things, it is a question of making his Word the law for all our thoughts and actions.

The great sin which the Pharisees and Sadducees had fallen into was that they had not given God his place, because they easily confused what He was truly demanding with their own interpretations of his demands. They gave more importance, for example, to all the external trappings of religion and worship (ritual ablutions, the offering of sacrifices in the temple. the rigorous observance of rest on the Sabbath etc.) than to what God wills; particularly our loving our neighbour and serving our brothers. Jesus will emphasise even more clearly that the will of God is to be found in a special way in love of our neighbour and in serving our brothers.

Bear fruit that befits repentance.

To give God the first place, to put God in the centre of my life...

In our times, unfortunately, we can see that in modern man there is a growing tendency to disregard God, because God is considered to be too demanding and uncomfortable. Under the influence of many factors, people want to put God aside by simply eliminating him from their lives as a useless and superfluous being. Behind this attitude there lies a cultural view which takes the conquests of science as its starting point and sets out to convince us that scientific and technological progress will more and more enable man to solve his problems and conquer the world on his own. Modern man therefore thinks he is self-sufficient and this is his great sin.

For many people in our times, conversion will mean welcoming God or renewing their welcome for God in their own lives. Without God man is deprived of his true meaning.

Bear fruit that befits repentance.

Another way of shrugging off God, for people who do believe in him, is to not recognise or to deny the practical consequences of their faith.

We Christians too, can often recognise ourselves in those Pharisees and Sadducees whom John the Baptist berated. How often we are Christians more because of certain inherited ha bits or a smattering of religious instruction, rather than out of deep conviction or a conscious choice of God! Do we not perhaps reduce our Christianity to external practices and conditions without committing ourselves to carrying out God's commandments, particularly the commandment to love our neighbour?

How then can we say that God has his place in our life?

Bear fruit that befits repentance.

How can we put this word of life into practice? We must sincerely examine our position in relation to Jesus.

Some of us, perhaps, should welcome with love the Jesus they have excluded from their lives. Others will feel the urgency of taking his demands more seriously.

For others, who are already travelling on this path, it will mean renewing their choice of Jesus, possibly by making resolutions. The important thing is that we all are converted and re converted.

One thing is sure. Our world which is so wounded can only be healed by Jesus. He asks us, his disciples, to allow him to live in us. Baptism has given us his life, but our decisive response is necessary. The gospel and all it demands can not be lived at a discount and can not be watered down.

If we do this, we will experience his transforming power. There is nothing left for everyone to do except one thing: to repent and be converted in practice and to show this with facts.

Chiara Lubich