One of my favorite songs is "Change," by Tracy Chapman. It is a bluesy/rock song the first line of which sets up the rest perfectly. It goes like this: "If you knew that you would die today, and see the fact of God and love, would you change?" That question-- would you change-- is repeated again and again in the song. Ms. Chapman goes through various circumstances and events that might cause change-- "when you're down so low you cannot fall"-- and implicitly asks the question: would that be enough to cause you to change. The songs works because most of us understand that we need to change. That's why politicians seem almost-always to run on a platform that promises change. "Make America Great Again," President Trump's signature slogan, is fundamentally a promise of change. Barack Obama ran on a platform entitled: "Change We Can Believe in." We could keep going back to earlier campaigns-- one of Bill Clinton's slogans in 1992 was "It's Time to Change America"-- but you get the idea. Jesus preaches a message of change as well. The Greek word which the Gospel writers put in His mouth, "metanoia," gets translated as "repent" or "repentance." That word, "repentance," is used to describe the baptism John preached (Mk 1:4) and the first proclaimation out of Jesus' mouth ends in the line: "Repent and believe in the gospel." (Mk 1:15). In today's reading from Mark's Gospel the same word appears. The Twelve are sent out by Jesus, with various instructions about what to take with them, what to wear, and such and, Mark tells us, "they went off and preached repentance." (Mk 6: 12) In fact the word "metanoia" appears 4 times in Mark's Gospel, 8 times in Matthew's Gospel, and a whopping 25 times in Luke's Gospel and Acts of the Apostles. So we might spend a bit of time reflecting on "metanoia." "Repentance" doesn't really do the word justice, since when we think of repentance it is easy for us to focus on our being sad over our sins. When we do that, we're looking backwards, reflecting on our failings. Nothing wrong with that, of course, and we need to do so from time to time. "An unexamined life is not worth living," according to Socrates. But a more-correct translation of "metanoia" would be " to change one's way of life," or, more simply, "to change one's mind." What Jesus repeatedly asks us to do, and what the Twelve set off to preach, is to change our lives, our minds, our hearts, our direction. To change from what we are as fallen human beings-- self-centered, narcissistic, self-referential (we all know the list)-- into what Jesus calls us to become-- His followers, living lives the way He taught and modelled. If the need to change is so universal, so well-accepted, that politicians as diverse as Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Donald Trump all got elected with that idea as a key element of their platforms, and if the idea of changing our way of life is one of Jesus' central themes, repeated over and over, why doesn't it happen? Why do we keep talking about change, but never get it done? Why when we go to confession do we confess the same sins over and over, sins which any priest will tell you are pretty-much the same sins everyone else confesses? Perhaps the problem is that when we talk about changing, we quickly get into a self-help mode. We somehow think that we can change ourselves, if we only try hard enough or adopt the latest techniques. We seem to be profound believers that we can pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. Simply can't be done that way. In fact, trying to change by our own power is just another aspect of our human sin of wanting to "be like God." (Genesis 3: 5) The only way we can truly change is to soften our hearts, and let God in. We have to give up control, not just read the scriptures but sit with them, let them seep into us, let them change us from the inside-out. Experience the Eucharist as often as we can, bringing Jesus physically into our lives. Sit quietly and listen to God-- don't just talk. The idea that we can only change if we abandon ourselves to God is at the core of every successful 12-step program. There's a reason for that.