1.0. Introduction:
The need for repentance followed the fall of man. It is this fallen human nature which is prone to sin that brought about the corrupted nature, darkened understanding, weakened will and a strong inclination to evil. Hence, if there is no sin, there will be no repentance and forgiveness of sin. Humanity knows itself to be frail, fallible and indeed, tainted by sin. Even with every intention to do good, human beings still remain far from perfection. St. Paul experiences this human frailty in himself and expresses: “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. So then it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do”. (Rom 7:15-19). In the same vein, St. John writes: “if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us (1John 1:8).
Nevertheless, God has loved us with an everlasting love. He cannot abandon us, therefore, to our lostness which our sin have condemned us to. He looks upon us with mercy. He does not mark our iniquity with the strictness that it deserves. He is compassionate and merciful; he forgives sins and saves in times of affliction (Sirach 2:11).
However, God’s readiness to forgive our offences must be met with human readiness to be forgiven. Hence, in the words of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, in his work entitled Lift Up your Hearts: A Guide to Spiritual Peace, “pardon is not automatic;to receive it, we have to make ourselves pardonable. This calls for true repentance. What is this true repentance? How can we achieve true repentance? These and many more is what this work seeks to address.
2.0. Repentance: Meaning
Evidently, the major focus of Christ’s mission on earth was to call sinners to repentance: “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32). Furthermore, he made it clear that without repentance, there will be no salvation when He says: “But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:5). In His farewell to His disciples, Jesus commanded that they take His message of repentance and faith to all the nations (Luke 24:47). Above all, the scripture teaches us that true repentance is a necessary condition to receive God’s forgiveness. Hence, we read in Ezekiel 18:30 “Come back, turn away from all your offences, that you may not deserve punishment”. What actually does repentance entails?
Repentance is a spiritual gift which orients us away from our past sinful life and towards God, and imbues us with a determination to resist further temptations. It involves pain as the heart is filled with remorse, and atonement is sought. Therefore, repentance invariably involves penance. For Fulton Sheen, repentance is inseparable from love. Our hatred of sin is a measure of the deepness of love. We cannot claim to value Divine love unless we avoid all that would wound that love.
2.1. Types of Repentance
Repentance has two aspects, namely: interior repentance and external acts of repentance.
Interior repentance: Jesus’ call to conversion does not aim first at outward works, sackcloth and ashes, fasting and mortification, but at the conversion of the heart. Without this, such penances remain sterile and false. Hence, true repentance is fundamentally interior. It produces in the sinner disgust for sin and motivates him or her to eschew sin and opt for a life of righteousness. It touches the heart, and there it produces the salutary pain and sadness which the fathers called affliction of the spirit and repentance of heart. Accordingly, the catechism of the Catholic Church number 1431 defines interior repentance as radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart, an end of sin, a turning way from evil, with repugnance towards the evil actions we have committed. It entails the desire and resolution to change one’s life, with hope in God’s mercy and trust in the help of his grace.
2.2. External acts of repentance
True repentance also manifests itself in visible signs, gestures and works of penance. These are efforts to make reparation for sins and to strengthen the will as it resist the attraction of sin. There is multiplicity of external acts of repentance, three popular forms which express conversion in relation to oneself, to God and to others are: fasting, prayer and almsgiving. These are highly recommended in the scriptures (cf. Tob 2:8-9; Mt 6:1-18).
Pope St. Leo the Great, in his Lenten sermon, encouraged fasting and works of mercy as means of attaining religious purity. He noted that these religious act help us to get less bound by the vices of our former nature. Christians should embark more devoutly on fasting which means, not only a rejection in our food, but the elimination of our evil habits. To these sensible and holy fast we should link almsgiving which under the one name of mercy covers a multitude of praiseworthy deeds of charity.
Adding prayer to the list, St. Peter Chrysologus called for these religious acts as the means through which faith stands firm, devotion abides, and virtue endures. For him, what prayer knocks for upon a door, fasting successfully begs and mercy receives. Prayer, fasting and mercy: these three are a unit. They give life to one another.
2.3. Process of Repentance
The process of repentance was described by Jesus in the parable of the prodigal son, the center of which is the merciful father as seen in Luke 15:11-24. The fascination of illusory freedom, the abandonment of the father’s house; the extreme misery in which the son finds himself after squandering his fortune; his deep humiliation at finding himself obliged to feed swine, and still worse, at wanting to feed on the husk the pigs ate; his reflection on all he has lost; his repentance and decision to declare himself guilty before his g\father; the journey back; the father’s generous welcome; the father’s joy. All these are characteristics of the process of conversion.
In the church today, these process of repentance is captured with what the church calls the acts of the penitent which include: contrition, confession and satisfaction.
Contrition: the first stage in the process of repentance is contrition. And according to CCC 451, among the penitent’s acts, contrition occupies the first place. It is sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin again.
There are two types of contrition: perfect and imperfect contrition. It is perfect when it arises from a love by which God is loved above all else. Such contrition remits venial sins; it also obtains forgiveness of mortal sins if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible.
It is imperfect when it is born of the consideration of sin’s ugliness of the fear of eternal damnation and other penalties threatening the sinner. By itself, imperfect contrition cannot obtain forgiveness of grave sins, but it disposes one to obtain forgiveness in the sacrament of penance.
Confession of sin: this is a disclosing of one’ sin to a priest in order to obtain remission for them. It involves disclosure of sins to confessor after one had made a thorough examination of conscience. It is an exterior accusation made in the light of God’s mercy, requiring in repentant sinners the will to open their hearts to the minster of God who absolves the penitent from his sins.
Satisfaction: absolution wipes sins, but it does not remedy all disorder caused by sin. This makes satisfaction also known as penance, necessary. Sin injures and weakens the sinner himself, and disrupts and ruptures his relationship with God and neighbor. The penitent must do what is necessary to restore the order disturbed or repair the harm caused by his or her sin. For instance, restitution of stolen goods, repair of reputation of somebody slandered, payment of compensation for injuries etc. Here satisfaction is both a remedy for sin and a help for renewal.
3.0 Conclusion :
The movement of return to God, called repentance entails sorrow for and abhorrence of sins committed, and the firm purpose of sinning no more in the future. Repentance touches the past and the future and is nourished by hope in God's mercy. Repentance must be inspired by motives that arise from faith not only for the sake of avoiding eternal domination but with sincere desire to reunite with Christ our lord who first loved us.
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