Wednesday of the First Week in Lent

“Jonah Preaches to Nineveh”
by Johann Christoph Weigel, 1639-1721

 
Readings for Wednesday of the First Week in Lent [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
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
 
Jonah had tried to run from God after the first time the word of God came to him. He was swallowed by a giant fish and spewed out on dry land. Following his miraculous rescue from the belly of the great fish, the prophet Jonah is sent to Nineveh, a traditional enemy of the Jews.  He is sent 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 would be destroyed. This selection, 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
 
Psalm 51 is the most famous of the seven penitential psalms. These strophes are consistent with the theme from Jonah 3:1-10 pleading for the remission of sins. 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.
 
CCC: Ps 51:12 298, 431; Ps 51:19 1428, 2100
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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 is asked again for a sign that would prove to his audience that he is what he claims to be. His response is vehement: the only sign that will be given to them will be the sign of Jonah, the message that they are under a condemnation from God unless they repent and return to faithfulness. This is followed by another reference to the Old Testament “the queen of the south,” a reference to the Queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10: 1ff),  who came seeking the wisdom of Solomon. Using this imagery, the Lord refers to himself as God’s wisdom incarnate.
 
The final verse of this passage summarizes the message. Christ’s call to repentance carries more weight than Jonah’s call did for the Ninevites (Jonah 3:1-10) and his wisdom is greater than that of Solomon.
 
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Reflection:
 
We continue our inward search to become more effective disciples of Jesus. One critical element of that search is to look at our character through the lens of the perfect example, the Lord himself, and see what needs to be changed. Frequently, the changes we discover require repentance.
 
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 or contrition. 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 that 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 theoretical kind of examination of the repentance theme; we must make repentance personal for it to be effective in our lives.
 
So let’s sum up repentance in one short, personal, statement: Repentance is our recognition that we have pierced God with our failure to love God, ourselves, others and his creation.  Once we have recognized our failures, we express true contrition for them, followed by a pledge and action to prevent its reoccurrence, or in the words that accompanied our ashes: “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.”
 
Pax

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[1] The picture is “Jonah Preaches to Nineveh” by Johann Christoph Weigel, 1639-1721.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.