"Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is close at hand."

This sums up Jesus' preaching which repeats verbatim the preaching of John (Mt.3:2). For Jesus, God's love - and the invitation to 'repent' are to be taken together. This is true because there is no conversion if we do not experience the unconditional love of God. This repentance is not simply to avoid sin but to be co-creator or co-sharer of God's love. It is to become children of God and to become new persons. This new life is one of a 'living and being' - love expressed in the whole being of the person. This also means that by keeping God's commandments and living in Him (1 Jn. 3), we can learn to discern between truth and falsehood.

This is reflected in the prophecy of Isaiah as in the Gospel reading, which sees Jesus as the one who brought light to the people living in darkness. The various forms of darkness around us need Christ to transform them into light. As followers of Christ, we are called to reflect this light in our family, community, parish, nation so as to dispel the darkness surrounding us.

In the first reading John says that to be children of God is to keep His commandments and live in Him thus enabling them to know how to discern between truth and falsehood. We are to listen to God and overcome falsehood and acknowledge that Jesus is God. We are called to continue the mission of Jesus - to bring light to those in darkness.