Repentance as the Remedy to Despair
Homily
Sunday, November 4, 31th Sunday of Ordinary Time, C

This homily was never delivered, as my pastor removed me from my parrochial duties. Such is the fate of a faithful priest in a corrupt Archdiocese, alas.

“You, [Lord,] have mercy on all, because you can do all things; and you overlook men’s sins that they may repent.” (Wis 11:23)

            Today’s homily are for those who have despaired, thinking that there is no way they can be free from their slavery to sin. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and he has set you free.

            Therefore, we need to study first what is despair, then what is hope, and then the necessity of repentance for salvation.

            Despair is a type of laziness. St. Thomas Aquinas, in his masterpiece the Summa Theologica, says that the virtue of hope moves us towards not only a goal, but an arduous goal, one hard to attain. He says, “laziness is a certain sadness casting the soul down,” and that despair makes us think that a certain good cannot be attained. The despairing man claims to see the end, that it is impossible. He gives up. It’s too hard. He thinks he doesn’t have the strength, that he can’t do it, and never will be able to. It can strike root, however, in the midst of many other sins besides laziness, particularly from lust; yet it is a form of sad laziness.

            Hope, however, is a virtue. Every virtue is that habit, that quality of soul, a disposition, which makes its possessor good and makes his acts good. We sincerely expect to possess God for all eternity, we don’t wonder whether that will happen to us; but we expect it as a gift, with which we collaborate, but still certainly a gift from God. How could we enjoy God forever by any strength or wisdom any of us here present today might possess? For man it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.

            The person who despairs finds his home on the earth; the person who hopes finds his home in heaven. He who despairs is sad; he who hopes is at peace. He who despairs finds meaning in nothing; he who hopes finds meaning in all things. He who despairs does not pray; he who hopes prays to God, and the angels and saints. He who despairs thinks either of hell; he who hopes thinks of heaven. He who despairs lives in constant distraction, particularly that of worldly entertainment; he who hopes cannot endure permanent distraction, the violence of popular music, the noise of an incessant television.

            Today, despair is a huge problem. You find it in the workplace and in the schools. You find it in the TV and in movies. You find it in poetry and literature. You find it in families and in parishes. You find it in the young and the old. We have lost hope, so we live for the now. Feed me now. Comfort me now. Entertain me now. Satisfy me now. Pay me now. Give me now. Warm me now. Delight me now. This is not the life worthy of a human being, this is the life of an animal, but of a foolish animal at that. For even a pet cat knows when it has eaten enough, yet we humans don’t. Future happiness means nothing to us, so we curve in upon ourselves and demand immediate happiness. And we search not for the happiness of the intellect and will, but of the senses of the flesh. All of this is despair.

            Yet the scriptures say “You, Lord, overlook men’s sins, that they may repent.” Notice, it does not say, “You overlook our sins.” Nor does it say, “You overlook our sins so that all can go to heaven.” The book of Wisdom states clearly, “…that they may repent.” Jesus has taught us how to repent, when he told the Apostles, “whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you hold bound, they are held bound.” Therefore, we know God overlooks our sins now, to give us time to enter into contrition, and confess our sins to the priests of the Church. God would be perfectly just if, when we were right in the middle of a sin, he would pick us up and cast us into hell. But he does not do that, for he does not desire the death of the sinner, but that the sinner live. And so he tolerates the sins of men, so that at least some can be saved.

            What this means for us today is that all men have sinned, to quote the Psalm, but God gives hope to sinners. Through his own blood, which he shed on the cross when he became man, he washes away the sins of men. Yet there are some who hold on to their sins. They do so for various reasons. Perhaps they fail to examine themselves, or do so only very poorly, and don’t confess well. Perhaps they have a grudge with a priest, and so excuse themselves from the saving sacrament of confession. Perhaps they hide things, because they feel too ashamed to say what they have done. Perhaps they are too proud. Or perhaps they have swallowed that modern theology, that falsely says that the only sin is not loving yourself, which is silly foolishness. And so most Catholics today don’t confess. Yes, they have a reason to despair, for they have forfeited the means of salvation God has given them. But the reason for despair is a decision of their own will. One decision, just one decision to repent, would be enough to regain hope in eternal life. None of you can give me one good reason why to despair; Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, and resurrection, trumps every excuse anyone could think of.

            May God give us today the grace to reject the laziness of just sitting their in our sin, the despair of giving up. May he give us the grace to pursue that arduous, hard-to-reach goal of possessing God for all eternity. For this grace we entrust ourselves to the intercession of Mary, the loving Mother of Jesus, and our Mother. Amen.