One of the key words in today's gospel is "repent" which in Hebrew is shuv meaning to "turn around." That if, as we hear in the Second Reading: "Christ suffered for sins once for all the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God." (1 Pt 1: 18), what is my response? What is the correct course of action to take? Once I take on board the offer of salvation, made to me in Christ Jesus, a primary emotion I should feel is gratitude. This manifests itself primarily in Eucharist. To gather for Eucharist is to give praise and thanks to God. Such gratitude results in a desire to conform myself to Christ Jesus and imitate him in his love. The sacramental mode for implementing this is baptism: "Baptism, which this (the ark) prefigured, now saves you - not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ..." (1 Pt 3: 21) Let us, this Lent, renew our baptism relationship with Jesus Christ and deepen our experience of the Mass so that the grace and love of God may be made ever more powerful in us.
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