“WARM WITH GOD’S LOVE”
Lenten Reflections
21st February 2018.
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WEDNESDAY, FIRST WEEK OF LENT
Reading 1: Jon 3:1-10 Jonah preaches penance to the Ninevites, and they respond by recognizing their sinfulness. They proclaim a fast as the sign of their desire to return to God.
Res. Psalm: Ps 51:3-4,12-13,18-19 A humbled, contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn.
Gospel: Lk 11:29-32 Jesus presents the contrast between the Ninevites’ return to God and the unwillingness of Jesus’ contemporaries to heed his call to repentance.
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ACCEPTING JESUS AND HIS LOVE!
In today’s first reading, we see Jonah taking the ‘Word of the Lord’ to the people of Nineveh, and as he begins entering the city, a third of the distance across the city, his cries of the doom of the city, are heard by the people. The King hears of it, proclaims a fast, and declares that all put on sackcloth and ashes in repentance. The King himself covered himself in sackcloth, left his throne and sat in ashes. God thus has mercy on Nineveh and he does not harm Nineveh. The miracle in this passage is not the change of the heart of God towards Nineveh, rather it’s the prompt and immediate action of the people of Nineveh. They received the ‘Word of the Lord’ and promptly acted upon it.
In the Gospel, we see a people who demand for extraordinary signs to listen to the Words of Jesus. Jesus is surprised and tells them, while Queen Sheba came far off lands to hear Solomon and while Nineveh repented on hearing Jonah, They were not willing to accept someone far greater than Solomon and Jonah, and one who had performed many miracles to show himself as the Son of God. The people had no recognition of the person of Jesus, nor were they interested in a real conversion of themselves.
The people of Jesus’ time were blessed with hearing the actual words of the Savior of the World. But so are we! We have the Gospels, the teachings of the Church, the witness of the great saints, the shepherding of the Holy Father, the Sacraments and so much more. We have countless methods of obtaining the Gospel message in our technological age and, yet, we can easily fail to heed Christ’s message. Let us reflect upon our own response to the words of Jesus. He speaks to us in powerful ways and yet we so often fail to listen. Our failure to listen leads to a failure of complete repentance from our sins.
Prayer: Lord, I know You speak to me in countless ways. You preach through Your Scriptures, Your Church and in my life of prayer. I love You, my dear Lord, and I repent of my sin. Jesus, I trust in You. Amen
Lenten Act: When the King heard of God’s anger. He simply sat down and prayed for God’s forgiveness (Jonah 3:1-7) Take time to sit down, examine your life and ask God’s Mercy and forgiveness.