The First Reading speaks of the need for deep repentance for all the wrong things we have done and our failure to listen to God's teaching. The Gospel, on the other hand, speaks positively of the things we need to be doing and the attitudes we need to have. The only true way for us to be sorry for our failure to obey our God is to reach out in love and compassion and forgiveness to our brothers and sisters, especially those who are in any kind of need. The model of our compassion is that of God Himself, who is so ready to forgive us, no matter what we have done, once we come to Him asking for forgiveness and are anxious, with His help, to change our ways. Our lives are to be lives of giving and sharing. It is a lesson we need to learn in a world which at the moment is paying a high price for its greed and its desire to have more. The only way to have more is for all of us to give more to each other.