“In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is near’” (Matthew 3:1)
“From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is near’” (Matthew 4:17)
Jesus began His ministry with the same demand made by St. John the Baptist. “Repent!” Odd the way terms we use remain and yet lose the original meaning. Definitions continue long after they had lost their original meaning. “Penitentiary,” for instance, meant a place apart from society—a prison or even a monastery where criminals and murderers were incarcerated and given the opportunity to consider the wrongheadedness of their actions. They could reflect on the past, moving from self-justification to some objective consideration of their crimes, progressing as we are all made in God’s image to understand their deeds from the victims’ points of view. Even if possible, putting the acts into the broadest perspective: The sin against the immediate victim and what it did to his parents, wife, children, family members, to the community and ultimately to the Almighty, as an affliction on the Lord’s plan for life. Next should come remorse [literally “chewing over”] the past passions. Eating on the lump of evil until it digests mentally or regurgitates up from the dark irrational places of the mind, then recognizing and taking ownership of the foul deed, the sinner repents, making an about-face. How long does that process of mental and spiritual healing take? Most would say that depends on the person, the crime and the society that nurtured him.
Within view of the San Francisco Bay lurks San Quentin State Prison. Locked inside on Death Row is Scott Peterson, the most renowned prisoner incarcerated for having murdered his wife Laci in the late stages of pregnancy. For the first 2 1/2 years of his incarceration, he had a small view of the bay, the site of his heinous deed. How many views will it take for him to come to terms with his conscience and repent of his foul deed? How long, if ever, until he manifests signs of shame, regret, remorse and a conversion of attitude? If he invites the chaplain assigned to the prison, he will be prodded to come to terms with his soul. It’s not a simple matter to forsake self-affirmation and denial and to open himself to the mystery of God’s own image in his conscience. The opportunity for that to happen regardless of how long it may take is the reason why most theologians are opposed to the antiquated penalty for murder by execution of the murderer. Some demand death out of vengeance, some feel it acts as a preventative for other would-be killers, yet the United States of America that prides itself on being on the cutting edge of progress in civilization’s humanitarian advances is among the countries that still use execution as a form of punishment.
Bernard Madoff contrived the most elaborate and costly Ponzi scheme in history, having bilked trusting clients of yet uncounted billions of dollars. So many suffered from his greed: Pensioners whose entire savings were wiped out, banks having been swindled of millions, and welfare agencies who depended on assets they thought were secure, now vanished. One such welfare agency, the Jewish Federation, is now without means to support their many eleemosynary causes. The Chair of that agency, the writer Eli Wiesel thought a proper punishment would be a life term in a prison cell where Madoff would face a blank wall projecting pictures day and night nonstop of scenes depicting the lives of those he had cheated of their savings by trusting him with their accounts. How long would it take for him to go from greed to regret? My personal concept of the criteria for admission to the kingdom of God would be a variation of Mr. Wiesel’s proposal for Madoff. I believe that a fair requirement for every human being would be for him or her to first approach every person harmed, injured or offended by the candidate for admittance and beg forgiveness; and the injured party would then have to forgive the sinner.