Two of this Sunday’s reading call for repentance. Is repentance still relevant to our times? For repentance to be meaningful, there should be objective references of good and evil, virtues and vices, holiness and profanity, and faith and idolatry. But the modern mind has been overwhelmed with the high waves of relativism and pluralism. Moreover, science and psychology have been demystifying all human acts. Thus, there should be nothing left unexplained as scientific or psychological phenomena. All human behaviours and mental activities became reduced to the material. Repentance, sin, forgiveness, redemption and salvation would be then obsolete. These words might have been useful in the previous generations to express desires or to control human behaviours, but no longer now.

Lots of our baptized children have absorbed these ideas of relativism, pluralism, and materialistic philosophy. Our world teaches that nobody is wrong and everybody is right. For them, repentance doesn’t make much sense at all. The world promotes the idea that man does not have a limit. It tells each to be his own god.

Many good Catholic parents and grandparents wonder how our children became like this. We wonder where these ideas originated and how they spread.

These ideas are nothing new at all. When we read the first few chapters of the book of Genesis, we find all of them there. The snake whispered to Eve ‘To be one’s own god’. From the very beginning of man, Satan has been lying to humanity that we would be all fine even if we would chase after our desires forever.

But we still need answers to why this wave is so high in our times and our children no longer believe in the gospel or the Church. There are many reasons. But one reason we do not discuss much is our sin of omission to guard the faith and our children. Many clergies have closed their eyes to those living in sinful situations. We keep quiet when we find irregularities in marriages and families. Priests stop asking questions. Parents don’t take pains to remind their children of sins. We became too compliant, lenient and permissive. We have been ignoring our duties to guard those under our responsibilities.

Many of Satan’s lies have weakened our faith in the teachings of Christ and the Church. The material success of modern civilization desensitized our conscience. We became overconfident with ourselves. Many Christians no longer fear God. Perhaps we are overconfident with God’s mercy.

It is time to repent. We should look into our sinfulness first. But repentance should not intimidate us. God answers to true repentance. And we experience God’s forgiveness and mercy. Then, we have encouragement to call others for repentance so that they may also enjoy God’s mercy. We cannot turn blind eye to our beloved ones falling and remaining in sins.

All comes down to this reality: we will face terrible consequences unless we repent – either here on earth or after this world, or both. God is real. Let us not test him.