Joke: Four Christian pastors were riding home after a conference on the necessity of reviving the ancient practice of personal confession in their Christian denominations as the Catholics have it. “Why don’t we try it among ourselves?” asked the senior among them. The others agreed and they started confessing to one another. “I must confess, said the first minister, “that my great and perplexing sin is greed for money which prompts me to give special attention to the rich in my congregation and to participate in all their parties to the point of ignoring the poor.” The second minister joined in: “My sin is gambling. I really enjoy taking chances at lotteries, casinos and even at our neighboring Catholic bingo games.” “Although I have a beautiful wife my big sin is women,” said the third minister. “I enjoy looking at beautiful women. I would even have to call it lust.” The fourth minister remained silent. “What about you, Harry,” they asked. “Don’t you have anything to confess?” “Well,” Rev. Harry said: “my great sin is gossiping. I am impatiently waiting to reach home to tell my wife about your sins!”

Conversion, one of the definitions is, “The act of converting or the state of being converted,” American Heritage Dictionary. The act of converting does not mean to end at the senses, but it needs to sink into the heart. The conversion only happens when whatever is sunk into the heart is carried out into actions. This is the definition of the true conversion described in all today’s readings.

In today’s first reading, taken from the book of Exodus, the book that priests are encouraged to read throughout Lenten season to journey with Moses who led the Israelites out of the state of slavery. Moses first saw the bush on fire but did not consume it. Through this sensory experience of seeing, he was motivated or curious to come to check it out. When he came to check it out, God spoke to him saying, “Come no nearer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is Holy ground. I am the God of your father.” Moses wasn’t sure that he dreamt or he was in a moment of doubt. After he was instructed by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, free from slavery, he asked God, “If they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what am I to tell them?” God replied, “I am who am.” Then he added, “This is what you shall tell the Israelites: I AM sent me to you.” Synodal Church, our parish just had the encounter session this weekend, “is the faithful journeying together as the people of God with the Lord Jesus on a pilgrimage of faith toward eternity.” On his journey of faith, Moses encountered the Lord who identified himself as I AM. With the Lord’s instruction, Moses led the Israelites free from slavery. We found in Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom of God, the encounter session pointed out, “there are three key figures in this setting: Jesus, the crowd, and the apostles.” Jesus, of course, is the first and most important of the three. He pays special attention to the abandoned and destitute, offering freedom from sin and conversion to hope in the name of the Father and in the power of the Holy Spirit. In today’s Gospel, Jesus offered them a chance not to perish if they repented saying, “if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!” Repentance that he invited them to take. How do we repent? Or rather, have we had anything to repent?

When we experience the hurt and the suffering from illness and sickness, the heartbroken from separating, the stress and anxiety from losing the job, and many other difficult experiences that we might experience in our lives, the question we might ask is how do I know God that you are near to me, to protect me, to heal my illness and sickness, to help me fixed my broken marriage, to direct me to find a job, and many others? We all have strengths and weaknesses, according to Carl Jung, pioneer psychologist, and Isabel Briggs Myers, creator of the Myers-Briggs. Our strengths are our reasoning, the free will, higher above all other creatures; and our weaknesses are nothing unfamiliar to us than our bodies. Moses acknowledged his strength when he saw the bush was on fire but not consuming. He accepted his weakness to do what the Lord asked him to do which was to be the leader of the Israelites, to free the Israelites from slavery.

These weaknesses were described in today’s Gospel when Jesus pointed out two new reports: The Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices and those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them. Saint Luke describes, by no means, they were greater sinners than all others. What Jesus emphasized in these two new reports is that if they do not repent, they will all perish as those people did in these two new reports. This was the urgency for conversion that the Lord Jesus invited them to repent. By pointing out these two new reports, Jesus hoped that they understood and repented. How can one repent when one does not even understand it is wrongdoing? Watching porn, for example, recalling from one preparation of a young couple for marriage, they believed that watching porn was not a sin. If what we watch does not retain in our mind and our heart, it is not a sin just like we look at the arts. The problem with porn is that when we watch, it remains in our mind and in our heart which might even trigger our lustful desire in our mind and even in our flesh that we might engage in action. If we don’t see publicizing wrong information about someone as a sin, then there is no such sin as gossiping, criticizing, or judging. Some of us do talk bad about others behind their backs. We might not see it as a sin, and so, there is no need to repent. Is it so?

The urgency for conversion or for repentance that the Lord Jesus invited us today and throughout the Lenten season, have we had anything to repent? How can we experience what Moses experienced and those people who did not repent were killed by Pilate and the falling of the tower at Siloam? The Lord mysteriously speaks to us, and we can only experience his voice calling us to convert or to repent when we open up ourselves to welcome him into our lives, have courage and strength to deliver this inner voice into actions, and above all, to recognize that we sin. Have you had any sin that prompts you to repent? What is sin for you? Lent will be finished soon. What does it mean if we don’t see ourselves changed after Lent is over? When was the last time you went to confession? When was the last time you forgave someone who hurt you? Is there anyone that you find difficult to forgive? The decision is always yours.