Rousing Her Radiance: Day 13
Author: Andrew Comiskey
October 23, 2023
Repentance
‘There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God’- Ps. 46:4
Turn from the false and dive into the depths of His mercy; let Him wash away your sin! I pray this for myself, for Pope Francis, Father Martin, Cardinal McElroy, and any other synod member seeking to extend Church blessing over unrepentant LGBTQ+-identified people.
In ten years of addressing homosexuality, Pope Francis has yet to combine repentance, chastity, and homosexuality in one sentence. I’m praying to hear it. Freedom for millions depends on his clarity.
Repentance brings life. Turning to Jesus and Church instead of idols stirs up baptismal waters and sets us free from slavery to sin.
Of course, that applies to all sin, sexual and otherwise. I am not saying the rainbow set needs to repent more than others. It’s just the only group whose sin Francis and synodal friends want to deny.
Repentance involves conviction of sinful behavior and living out loud in bold confession of sin and vulnerability to sin as to regain purity, self-control, and clarity of true personhood. Repentance means living immersed in God’s crystal stream. That river flows constantly from Father and Son to surrendered child.
I recall the onset of a conference years ago in Francis’ native Argentina where I was a mess. The night before I discovered a raunchy movie on TV that set me back a few years in freedom from foul images. It made me sick. Literally. Strung out and nauseous the next day, I had no idea how to proceed except to confess and repent before my team. How could I not? Our authority is Christ Crucified. I had to lead out by dying with Him as a public sinner so I could live with Him (and them) to help others.
I confessed my sin to them all with my eyes wide open; others began to open as well. We fell on our knees and went to the throne room together. While praying, I received a stunning vision of heaven opening and pouring down upon us like a surging crystal river. It kept raining then rising, only to douse us again and again. We were being washed by unrelenting waves of Mercy that permeated our bodies and spirits. This torrent of liquid love continued for about 30 minutes. Although not everyone on the team saw what I saw, each was drenched and bore witness that the Spirit had washed us deeply.
Let’s pray that the Spirit of repentance and cleansing falls upon the ‘Synod on Synodality’ and every Christian group seeking to love sinners. All it takes is acting upon the Spirit’s conviction that ‘all is not well with my soul!’ Then let’s expose our corruption to one another. No cassock or Bible can conceal what we hide from each other.
Don’t get me wrong. I love sacramental confession and the blessed privacy it affords. But it doesn’t bridge the gap between our sin and its impact on others. Turning to the River together unites us where sin has distanced us. It rouses Her radiance, makes us shine.
‘They feast on the abundance of Your house; You give them drink from Your river of delights. For in You is the fountain of life; in your light, we see light’ (Ps. 36: 8-9).
‘We pray for a spirit of real conviction and repentance over real sin. May our living out loud free us to live in the light. You are not fooled by our compromises, yet we fool ourselves. Make us humble and wise by connecting with Your Bride in a way that prepares us for You. Meet the synod similarly, we pray. We are united in unspoken corruption. Help us turn to the grace that could be ours.’
‘Father, we thank You for Jesus who established the Church on a Rock against which hell will not prevail (Matt 16:18). We pray for every Christian leader to build on Her firm foundation of sexual clarity and integrity. Father, unmask the deceiver and divider of Christians and unite us in one Spirit. As weak members of Christ, we ask for truth to guide our pursuit of sexual wholeness, for grace to sustain it, and for spiritual power to transform us. May we reflect the chaste radiance of Jesus (2 Cor. 3:18) as we “shine like stars in the universe, holding out the word of life” (Phil. 2:15-16) to a lost and hurting world.’
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