Readings for Wednesday of the First Week in Lent[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Jonah 3:1-10
Following his miraculous rescue from the belly of the great fish, the Prophet Jonah is sent to Nineveh, a traditional enemy of the Jews, to spread the news that, unless they repented their ways the city would be destroyed. We don’t catch it in this reading but Jonah was sure he would fail and the city be destroyed. This reading, then, describes his unexpected success and God’s subsequent redemption.
Placed in context of the season of Lent, the reading reminds us of the need for repentance and the promise of God’s mercy.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 51:3-4, 12-13, 18-19
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
Consistent with the theme from Jonah, this selection is a lament. It expresses sorrow for sin and an understanding of the need to reform the heart.
Gospel Luke 11:29-32
Jesus’ message, in this reading, echoes Jonah’s call to repentance but this time is it is directed to the Jewish people. Instead of a prophet he uses himself; “Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.” The reference to the “queen of the south” is a reference to the Queen of Sheba who in the first book of Kings (1 King; 10, 1ff) came and saw God’s wisdom in Solomon. Using this imagery, the Lord refers to himself as Wisdom incarnate.
Reflection:
We continue our inward search to become the perfect disciple of Jesus. One critical element of that search is to look at our character with the lens of the perfect example, the Lord himself, and see what needs to be changed.
When all is said and done, repentance has two components. First there is recognition that the behavior that requires forgiveness is something for which we are sorry. There cannot be repentance without that sense of sorrow. If we commit a sinful act and feel no remorse or sorrow then we do not recant that action. It would be like going to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation and, at the end of our act of contrition feeling, “Well, I guess there is really nothing to be contrite about.”
The second element of repentance is our reaction to that sense of contrition, sorrow, or remorse. We must change our behavior in such a way that our previous actions, which have offended God, do not have an avenue to return. We must be mindful that the evil one is constantly looking for ways to turn good intentions into evil outcomes.
In order for us to truly change ourselves, to repent and move toward God, we must look carefully at what we do and how we act. We must see there the fundamental weakness and use God’s gift of the Holy Spirit to bolster that area of our character. This has been a very “theoretical” kind of examination of the repentance theme and we must make it very personal for it to be effective in our lives. So let’s sum up repentance in one short, very personal, statement: Repentance is first recognition that we have pierced God with our failure to love and recognizing our actions true contrition for them followed by a pledge and action to prevent its reoccurrence. Or, in other words: “Turn away from Sin and be faithful to the Gospel.”
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture today is “Jonah Preaches to Nineveh” by Caspar Luiken, 1712
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Jonah 3:1-10
Following his miraculous rescue from the belly of the great fish, the Prophet Jonah is sent to Nineveh, a traditional enemy of the Jews, to spread the news that, unless they repented their ways the city would be destroyed. We don’t catch it in this reading but Jonah was sure he would fail and the city be destroyed. This reading, then, describes his unexpected success and God’s subsequent redemption.
Placed in context of the season of Lent, the reading reminds us of the need for repentance and the promise of God’s mercy.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 51:3-4, 12-13, 18-19
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
Consistent with the theme from Jonah, this selection is a lament. It expresses sorrow for sin and an understanding of the need to reform the heart.
Gospel Luke 11:29-32
Jesus’ message, in this reading, echoes Jonah’s call to repentance but this time is it is directed to the Jewish people. Instead of a prophet he uses himself; “Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.” The reference to the “queen of the south” is a reference to the Queen of Sheba who in the first book of Kings (1 King; 10, 1ff) came and saw God’s wisdom in Solomon. Using this imagery, the Lord refers to himself as Wisdom incarnate.
Reflection:
We continue our inward search to become the perfect disciple of Jesus. One critical element of that search is to look at our character with the lens of the perfect example, the Lord himself, and see what needs to be changed.
When all is said and done, repentance has two components. First there is recognition that the behavior that requires forgiveness is something for which we are sorry. There cannot be repentance without that sense of sorrow. If we commit a sinful act and feel no remorse or sorrow then we do not recant that action. It would be like going to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation and, at the end of our act of contrition feeling, “Well, I guess there is really nothing to be contrite about.”
The second element of repentance is our reaction to that sense of contrition, sorrow, or remorse. We must change our behavior in such a way that our previous actions, which have offended God, do not have an avenue to return. We must be mindful that the evil one is constantly looking for ways to turn good intentions into evil outcomes.
In order for us to truly change ourselves, to repent and move toward God, we must look carefully at what we do and how we act. We must see there the fundamental weakness and use God’s gift of the Holy Spirit to bolster that area of our character. This has been a very “theoretical” kind of examination of the repentance theme and we must make it very personal for it to be effective in our lives. So let’s sum up repentance in one short, very personal, statement: Repentance is first recognition that we have pierced God with our failure to love and recognizing our actions true contrition for them followed by a pledge and action to prevent its reoccurrence. Or, in other words: “Turn away from Sin and be faithful to the Gospel.”
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture today is “Jonah Preaches to Nineveh” by Caspar Luiken, 1712
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