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THE URGENCY OF CONVERSION 

SCRIPTURE READINGS: EZ 18:21-28; MT 5:20-26
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Lent is a time of conversion from a sinful life; and reconciliation with God and our neighbour.  These are two of the main themes of Lent.  However, many of us do not take the call to conversion and reconciliation seriously.  Many of us feel that we still have plenty of time; and therefore conversion can wait.   This explains why people do not feel the urgency to change their lives now, even if they know that the lives they are living are contrary to the gospel.  Nevertheless, it is their hope that when the time comes for them to meet God, they will have the opportunity to repent and make a last minute conversion. Is such an attitude dangerous? It is towards such people that the scripture readings today are being addressed.

In the first reading, we have the prophecy from Ezekiel, which tells us that God will reward the just and upright man, whereas the wicked man will be punished.  Of course, we must not interpret this as if God is taking revenge on us by punishing us. Rather it is a human way of speaking about the consequences that we will bring upon ourselves because of the way we live our lives.  As Jesus taught elsewhere in the gospel, a good tree produces good fruit and a bad tree produces rotten fruit.  Applying this principle, it means that those of us who are evil will bring upon negative consequences in our lives and those who are good will bring happiness to their lives.

But what is startling is the promise of God that if a man were to sin at the last minute, all his years of integrity and good works would be forgotten; whereas if the wicked man renounces all his previous sins, he would live and would not die.  Taken literally, it would seem that God is unjust.  It does not seem fair that all the good works that a man does earlier in his life count for nothing, simply because of a sin he commits just before he dies.  If that were the case, it would seem that it does not pay to live a good life now.  After all what matters is what we do at the end of our lives.  Hence, we need only to repent and convert towards the end of our lives.  Indeed, such is the attitude of many people who would not convert to the Faith until they are much older in life.

Now if we are thinking along this line, then we have misunderstood the whole  message, as did the contemporaries of Ezekiel.  In the final analysis, whether we have eternal life is determined not so much by isolated actions, but by the depth of our relationship with God. 

However, this relationship is manifested by the way we conduct our lives in everyday situations.  An isolated sin committed in a moment of human weakness does not express the full state of the person.  Similarly, an isolated act of good deed does not mean that the person is in deep relationship with God.  For how can a person who has lived a sinful life be transformed overnight into a loving and generous person?  Conversely, a good person who has always been living a good life is unlikely to be transformed into an evil person within a short time .

Consequently, we must recognize that conversion is a life-long and gradual process.  Radical conversion does take place, but they are rare and few.  Even then, this can happen only after a deep religious encounter.  Furthermore, the person would also need to exert a lot of discipline to live a good life thereafter, since bad habits are difficult to eradicate.  Of course with the grace of God, he will be able to overcome his sinful habits more effectively than one who lacks the grace of God.

Within this context, we can understand why in today’s gospel, Jesus spoke about the urgency of conversion, for if we do not change now, the consequences could be too much for us to handle.  Indeed, when Jesus advised us to strike a deal with our opponents in good time, he was warning us of more serious consequences if we procrastinate.  This is because if we fail to make use of the opportunity for conversion and reconciliation now, we might be too late and the price for conversion may be too high.  Many things in life can be resolved when the problem is still small and manageable.  We cannot afford to wait until they become too big to handle.

This is true in the case of relationships. Sometimes, we allow misunderstandings to fester, when we could have apologised or clarified the matter immediately.  As a result aversion grows. With aversion, more misunderstandings occur, until one day the aversion turns into hostility.  That is why Jesus urges us to reconcile with our enemies.  But we must transform ourselves here and now.  Let us not repeat the mistake of the man who did not reconcile with his opponent while they were on their way to court.  Yes, the failure to tackle the evil in us will first and foremost destroy ourselves, then others, and then our relationship with God.

Very often like the Jews, we think that we sin only when we commit a serious evil action, such as killing.   But the deeper truth is that physical killing is the ultimate act of a person who has already filled his life with anger, resentment, contempt and malice.  Evil begins small.  But when it is nursed, it becomes big and eventually consumes the whole person.  For instance, we begin by being angry with others.  Such anger will eventually lead to contempt. We start calling names e.g. “fools” which in the bible refers to the moral fool.  But we will not stop at this.  We will go further by destroying their reputation, accusing them of things that are not substantiated, calling them “renegade.” The truth is that an angry man is first and foremost destroying himself, for anger comes from within him.  In the process of manifesting his anger, he will then destroy others.  In destroying others, he will contaminate himself further and turn himself into a wicked and bitter person.

During this season of Lent, we are called to purify ourselves at the deepest level.  It is not enough to say to ourselves that we are worthy before God because we have not committed sinful actions.  We must begin to purify our thoughts as well.  That is why, Jesus says, “if your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.” Yes, we cannot measure the depth of our relationship with God only by the actions that we do; we must consider our hearts and minds as well.  We must cultivate a good heart and a positive mind for from a good mind and a good heart will flow the good deeds as well.

If we live good lives, then we will be reconciled within ourselves, with others and with God.  Because if our heart is at peace and our mind is positive, then the whole world is our friend.  But if we nurse an evil, revengeful and negative mind, then evil actions will follow.   As a result, our relationships with God, with ourselves and with others become broken.  When we live evil lives, we become selfish, isolated and individualistic, cut off from love and wither in emptiness.

Happiness in the final analysis is not so much what we do or do not do, but what kind of mind and heart we have.  Only a magnanimous heart and a positive mind can bring us true life.  A selfish heart and a revengeful mind can only bring us death.  Yes, the choice is ours: do we want to live, here and hereafter; or do we want to die?  If we want to live here and hereafter, we must begin by killing and eliminating the roots of sin within us and not wait until they become fully blossomed and destroy us.

WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV MSGR WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE