Reflection:
Turning to Christ
In our first reading, we are gifted with Ezra’s beautiful prayer of turning away from the sinful past to God’s beautiful gift of kindness. One Hebrew word of critical importance is to “turn,” which in Hebrew is “suv”. We must turn our face from sinful life to the Face of God. The New Testament has the same theme with the Greek word “metanoia”. This word basically means I must have a changed mind or understanding of God and His kingdom! We use a number of different words in English to express this. Words like Conversion, repentance, or afterthoughts about sin and God’s care for us!
About sin, this is the worst disaster that can happen to us! I must plead with God for healing and forgiveness. Even more than that, I must turn my face to the wonderful Face of God shining in Christ, the image of His Father!
One has to think of God in a much bigger and exciting way. We must dramatically change our thoughts about the wonder of His love. What God is going to do for us has not even entered into the mind and heart of man in His wildest dreams! Biblical “repentance” means not so much that we look to our wayward sins, but to God’s startling love for us! We are challenged with God’s amazing ways to call us into the wonderful love life of the Trinity.
Jesus says the most astonishing things about this sharing of intimacy with God!
Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.
John 15:9
I think these are some of the most astounding words spoken by Jesus! So strong is Jesus’ love for us, it is like the Father’s love for His “Only Begotten.” How could Jesus say it more strongly than that? When John the Baptist said, “Behold the Lamb of God,” that was the most wonderful sight in the world! Pope Benedict XVI beautifully said, “EVERYTHING DEPENDS ON THE INTIMATE FRIENDSHIP WITH JESUS!”
