Wednesday of the First Week in Lent

Wednesday of the First Week in Lent

Readings for Wednesday of the First Week in Lent[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible

Readings and Commentary:[3]

Reading I: Jonah 3:1-10

The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:
“Set out for the great city of Nineveh,
and announce to it the message that I will tell you.”
So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh,
according to the LORD’s bidding.
Now Nineveh was an enormously large city;
it took three days to go through it.
Jonah began his journey through the city,
and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing,
“Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,”
when the people of Nineveh believed God;
they proclaimed a fast
and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.

When the news reached the king of Nineveh,
he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe,
covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes.
Then he had this proclaimed throughout Nineveh,
by decree of the king and his nobles:
“Neither man nor beast, neither cattle nor sheep,
shall taste anything;
they shall not eat, nor shall they drink water.
Man and beast shall be covered with sackcloth and call loudly to God;
every man shall turn from his evil way
and from the violence he has in hand.
Who knows, God may relent and forgive, and withhold his blazing wrath,
so that we shall not perish.”
When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way,
he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them;
he did not carry it out.
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Commentary on Jon 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. It is not explicit 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.

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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 51:3-4, 12-13, 18-19

R. (19b) A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

For you are not pleased with sacrifices;
should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
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Commentary on Psalm 51:3-4, 12-13, 18-19

Consistent with the theme from Jonah, this selection from the great penitential psalm is a lament. It expresses sorrow for sin and an understanding of the need to reform the heart.

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Gospel: Luke 11:29-32

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them,
“This generation is an evil generation;
it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it,
except the sign of Jonah.
Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites,
so will the Son of Man be to this generation.
At the judgment
the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation
and she will condemn them,
because she came from the ends of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon,
and there is something greater than Solomon here.
At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation
and condemn it,
because at the preaching of Jonah they repented,
and there is something greater than Jonah here.”
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Commentary on Lk 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.

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Reflection:

If we were all great artists, we would not need cameras. We would be able to recreate an image on canvas or in some other media by painting, drawing or sculpting it. Others would see what we had seen and the image would be transmitted; one person to another. But we are not all great artists so we struggle to communicate the beauty of what we see in other ways.

Our spiritual selves are like that. We hear the word of God. He calls us to repentance; to turn away from sin and to embrace the peace and mercy he offers. We hear those words. We know what they mean. We may even be able to envision what we would be like if we were to follow these instructions perfectly, unreservedly. But when it comes down to living the Word of God in our thoughts words and actions, we fall far short of that vision. Like the painter who does not quite get the colors right or the sculptor who does not find the right proportions.

Thank God for the examples of his saints and thank him also for the gift of His Son who continues to invite us to deeper understanding and deeper conversion. He tells us in the Gospel that just as Jonah was a sign that the people of Nineveh needed to repent; he came to show the world that all were in need of repentance. He came telling them unless they turned away from sin they invited the death promised to the Ninevites. He came promising the gift of the Holy Spirit – greater than the Wisdom of Solomon, offered for the price of faith in him.

That invitation remains open to us. The picture of what we should be is once more painted with by the words of sacred scripture and we are asked once more to try to capture the spirit of those words with our hearts. In a sense it is like the movie Ground Hog Day in which the main character was forced to repeat the same day over and over until he had gotten all of the details right. We are asked to move closer to God each day; each day with a deeper conversion, a deeper understanding of what is pleasing in God’s eyes.

Our prayer this day is for the strength to make those steps, walking with Christ on that difficult path. And when we fail, we ask for forgiveness with the promise that we will continue to seek to follow God’s only Son.

Pax

[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture is “Christ the Redeemer” by Tiziano Vecellio, 1533-34
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.