This is the second reading at
Mattins of Tuesday in the Third Week of Lent:
Would you like me to list also the paths of repentance? They are numerous and quite varied, and all lead to heaven.
A
first path of repentance is the condemnation of your own sins: Be the
first to admit your sins and you will be justified. For this reason,
too, the prophet wrote: I said: I will accuse myself of my sins to the
Lord, and you forgave the wickedness of my heart. Therefore, you too
should condemn your own sins; that will be enough reason for the Lord to
forgive you, for a man who condemns his own sins is slower to commit
them again. Rouse your conscience to accuse you within your own house,
lest it become your accuser before the judgment seat of the Lord.
That,
then, is one very good path of repentance. Another and no less valuable
one is to put out of our minds the harm done us by our enemies, in
order to master our anger, and to forgive our fellow servants’ sins
against us. Then our own sins against the Lord will be forgiven us. Thus
you have another way to atone for sin: For if you forgive your debtors,
your heavenly Father will forgive you.
Do you want to know of a third path? It consists of prayer that is fervent, careful and comes from the heart.
If you want to hear of a fourth, I will mention almsgiving, whose power is great and far-reaching.
If,
moreover, a man lives a modest, humble life, that, no less than the
other things I have mentioned, takes sin away. Proof of this is the
tax-collector who had no good deeds to mention, but offered his humility
instead and was relieved of a heavy burden of sins.
Thus
I have shown you five paths of repentance; condemnation of your own
sins, forgiveness of our neighbor’s sins against us, prayer, almsgiving
and humility.
Do not be idle, then, but walk daily in
all these paths; they are easy, and you cannot plead your poverty. For,
though you live out your life amid great need, you can always set aside
your wrath, be humble, pray diligently and condemn your own sins;
poverty is no hindrance. Poverty is not an obstacle to our carrying out
the Lord’s bidding, even when it comes to that path of repentance which
involves giving money (almsgiving, I mean). The widow proved that when
she put her two mites into the box!
Now that we have
learned how to heal these wounds of ours, let us apply the cures. Then,
when we have regained genuine health, we can approach the holy table
with confidence, go gloriously to meet Christ, the king of glory, and
attain the eternal blessings through the grace, mercy and kindness of
Jesus Christ, our Lord.
The text is taken from one of John Chrysostom's homilies, I'm sorry to
say. I just cannot stand him - but he's exactly right about this.
