Popular piety tends to portray Jesus as meek and mild. Our Lord was certainly a man of compassion - able to sympathize with people in their weakness. Nevertheless, at times Jesus did not fail to speak out against wrongdoing. Today's Gospel provides us with one such occurrence.

It is interesting to note that Jesus does not condemn the people of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum for what they did in the past but rather it is for their hardness of heart that He admonishes them. Jesus, willing to leave the past behind asks them to start afresh. The people of these towns however refuse to leave the past behind. They do not want to change.

We need to bear these things in mind when we approach the sacrament of reconciliation. The Lord wants to forgive us. What He asks us to do is make a fresh start, to leave the past behind and to walk in the light.