Fr. Michael Williams

John the Baptist was the last in a line of the great prophets of Judaism. And like all the great prophets before him, he was sent by God to call the people to conversion. The people of Israel had gone away from God and His commandments. As so often before they had forgotten about God and turned to pagan practices. And so they needed a reminder about God and His commandments. John was that reminder.

When John arrives on the scene his first words are, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is close at hand”. John was calling for the people to change from godlessness to godliness. The people of Israel had strayed from worshipping the True God, and had picked up many bad habits and ideas that were not pleasing to God.

Jesus reminds us in the gospel that the impact of John’s preaching was twofold. Firstly, many of “the chief priests and the elders of the people” refused to accept his teaching, and the call to conversion of life. In some sense they were like the second son in the parable. That son had said he would do the Father’s work, but in reality he didn’t do it. “The chief priests and the elders of the people” appeared to be doing the will of God, but that is all it was an appearance. As Jesus so often reminds us in the gospels, God’s will is that we love Him with all our heart and strength, and we love our neighbour as ourselves.

“The tax collectors and prostitutes” however, were like the first son in the parable. That son chose not to go and work in the Father’s vineyard initially, but eventually thought better of it and went. At first “the tax collectors and prostitutes” chose not to do God’s will, but after repenting, and changing, they began to make their way into the kingdom of heaven. Many sinners had listened to John’s message and dramatically changed their lifestyles.

The temptation to reject God, and His call to conversion, is as relevant today as it was for the Jewish people two thousand years ago. There are many things in our contemporary culture that try to turn us from God and His Commandments. Consumerism and sport are undermining the Third Commandment, ‘Keep the Lord’s Day Holy’. Abortion, terrorism and war are undermining the Fifth Commandment, ‘Thou shall not kill’. And our society’s normalisation of sexual relationships outside of marriage is an attack against the Sixth commandment. Of course people will say things have changed, but God’s Truth doesn’t change. We, the sinners, need to change.

To see whether we have converted or not, we need to regularly examine our life in the light of God’s commandments. Many “tax collectors and prostitutes” “thought better of it” when John the Baptist preached, and changed. Some of the religious minded appeared godly, but deep down they were not.

Let us pray that we will accept the Lord’s call to conversion; the Lord’s call to draw closer to Him every day. Because to be converted ultimately means that we “must be the same as Christ Jesus”; that we must love God and His ways.

We can only do this with God’s help and God’s help comes to us especially through the sacraments. And the sacrament of conversion is the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession especially helps us in this regard. We are all in need of that Sacrament.