A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark ‘After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God: ‘This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel.’ (Mark 1:14-15)

In a few weeks on Ash Wednesday the priest will echo these words when he says ‘Repent and believe in the Gospel.’

Brant Pitre in his book ‘ Introduction to the Spiritual Life.’ writes ” In English, the word ‘repent’ is commonly defined as ‘to feel regret’ or ‘remorse’ over having done something wrong. From a biblical point of view, this definition is partially correct, but it does not capture the fulness of what authentic repentance means in the Jewish scriptures.’

‘In Hebrew, the word commonly translated as ‘repent’ literally means to ‘turn’ (Hebrew shub). It can be used in two ways. On the one hand, to repent means to ‘turn away’ from sin. As God says to the people of Israel:

‘Repent and turn (Hebrew shub) from all your transgressions….Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed against me and get yourselves a new heart and new spirit.’ (Ezekiel 18:30-31)

On the other hand, to repent means to ‘return’ to God. Consider , for example, the words of King David in the book of the Psalms, in which he repents for having committed adultery:

‘Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and put a new and right spirit within me…

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

and sinners will return (Hebrew shub) to you.’ (Psalm 51, 10,13)

The Jewish scripture emphasized more the looking back, the return to the law. With Jesus the Kingdom of God has come, and something new has happened. Repentance is less about looking back and more about moving forward into the Kingdom of God. However, the two go together. For most of us in order to more forward we also have to go back to the law. As the saying goes ‘One step backwards one step forward.’