Broken Cycles: Christ’s Repentance and the Comfort of the Cross

February 22, 2023 | Zeki Tan (PM ‘25)

My recitation of the Daily Office, which is the liturgy of morning and evening prayer in the Anglican Church, invariably begins with these two verses of repentance: a confession of sins and shortcomings, and a plea for forgiveness from God. Repentance occupies a central place in all levels of Christian life, from the Pope’s worldwide exhortations to the private prayers of individuals in their homes, but it is especially important during Lent: a time when Christians commemorate the one whose act of sacrifice justified humans before God and surpassed any human act of penance—Jesus Christ.