February
25, 2026
Wednesday of the First Week
in Lent
Lectionary: 226
Reading
1
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.
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.
Verse
Before the Gospel
Joel 2:12-13
Even now, says the
LORD,
return to me with your whole heart
for I am gracious and merciful.
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.”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022526.cfm
Commentary on Jonah
3:1-10
Jonah, probably not a historical figure, is nevertheless one
of the most attractive characters in the Bible. Although he is listed among the
Minor Prophets, his book is more a cautionary tale than prophecy in the strict
sense. There is an underlying humour through the whole book of Jonah which one
does not often find in the Old Testament. The book also indicates a softening
of attitudes by the Jews towards Gentiles. They were not totally beyond God’s
compassion and mercy.
Jonah is asked by God to go east to preach to the pagan
people of Niniveh, the capital city of Assyriah, described as being so big that
it took three days to walk across it. Archaeological excavations indicate that
the later imperial city of Nineveh was about 13 km in circumference, or a
larger area comprising a four-city complex (‘Greater Niniveh’) which would have
been about 100 km in circumference. However, we are not dealing with a
historical document and the idea is simply to say that it was a huge city with
a lot of people—all unbelievers in the true God.
However, we see in chapter 1, instead of doing what God
tells him, Jonah takes a ship and goes west—in the opposite direction. He
cannot believe that God could show mercy to such wicked pagans. After a huge
storm threatens to sink the ship and all on board, the crew become aware that
Jonah, in disobeying a mission from his God, is the cause of all their trouble.
So he is unceremoniously dumped overboard where he is promptly swallowed by a
huge fish (traditionally, a whale). Even the whale does not particularly enjoy
the presence of Jonah and, after three days, coughs him up on the shore (see
chap 2).
In our reading today, Jonah finally accepts the message that
God means business and he reluctantly proceeds to go and preach to the people
of Niniveh, a city synonymous with paganism and idolatry. He threatens the city
with destruction if the people do not change their ways:
Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!
The 40 days is reminiscent of the Flood, God’s punishment on
a wicked world, which lasted 40 days, or of the 40 years that the Israelites
spent wandering in the desert. The Hebrew expression for ‘overthrown’ is also
an echo of the ‘overthrowing’ of the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by a
special act of God.
To Jonah’s great surprise there is an immediate response to
his call for penance:
And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a
fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus mentions this unexpected conversion
and compares it with those Jews who refuse to believe in him.
From the greatest to the least, the citizens of Niniveh
begin to fast and wear penitential sackcloth. Even the king:
…rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself
with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
Even animals were not to be given food. Inclusion of the
domestic animals was unusual, but expressed the urgency with which the
Ninevites sought God’s mercy. Even then, forgiveness seemed too much to hope
for:
Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may
turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.
The result was that God did indeed look kindly on their
efforts to change their ways and relented. The threatened punishment for their
wickedness was not inflicted. Clearly, repentant Gentiles were also the object
of God’s love and forgiveness.
The thrust of this story seems to be that, contrary to
traditional Jewish belief (of which Jonah himself was an example), “wicked”
Gentiles could respond to God’s call and change their ways. This is an
anticipation of what would happen in the early Church, where the first Jewish
Christians gradually came to realise that the gospel call was extended to
people everywhere.
For us, at this time of Lent, it is a reminder of our need
to repent, both in the sense of being truly sorry for all the wrong we have
done and the good we have failed to do, and to reflect on how our lives can be
brought more in line with the call of the gospel. It is also a time to reflect
on our attitudes to non-Catholics and non-Christians or ex-Christians. Jesus
himself says that we will be surprised at the number and kinds of people who
will enter into his Kingdom. Let us make sure that we will be among them. Lent
is a time to make the right preparations.
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Commentary on Luke
11:29-32
Today’s readings are about doing penance for our sins and
they are linked by the name of Jonah.
In Mark’s Gospel, the crowds are often shown as recognising
God’s presence in Jesus better than the scribes and Pharisees do. In Luke,
however, they are sometimes shown as people curious to see signs and wonders,
but without any real commitment to following Jesus.
So today we are told that “the crowds were increasing” and
Jesus spoke to them. But what he said was not very flattering:
This generation is an evil generation; it asks for a
sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.
Jesus, like Jonah, is a call to repentance and radical
conversion. And Jesus implies that many of his listeners are not ready or
willing to hear that call. They don’t need any more signs—Jesus has been giving
them an abundance of signs through his teaching and healing work.
On the judgment day, they, the chosen people of God, will be
surprised to see:
The queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the
people of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of
the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and indeed, something greater
than Solomon is here!
As well:
The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with
this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of
Jonah, and indeed, something greater than Jonah is here!
Jesus is far superior to either Solomon or Jonah!
We, too, who claim to be God’s people, may be surprised to
see who will be called to God’s side on judgment day because they heard and
followed God’s word according to their capacity. The question is, where will we
be on that day? Thomas à Kempis, writer of the famous medieval treatise The
Imitation of Christ, asked that very same question. He was worried about
whether he would persevere in serving Christ to the very end of his life. He
said he was told in answer to his prayer:
Do now what you would like to have done then, and you
will have nothing to worry about.
Where will I be on the Day of Judgement? The answer to that
question can be decided by me this very day and every single day from now on.
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Season of Lent
Opening Prayer
Forgiving, merciful God,
we pray to You for a good measure of
humility and honesty to acknowledge before You and people that we are weak and
fallible men and women, who often try to turn a blind eye to our shortcomings
and our sins.
Strong with the
grace won in the hard way by Your Son on the cross, we beg You for the courage
to seek Your forgiveness and to turn and return wholeheartedly to You and to
serve You and people. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Gospel Reading - 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.”
Reflection
We are in Lent. The Liturgy
presents texts which can help us to convert ourselves and to change our life. What
helps more in conversion are the facts of the history of the People of God. In
today’s Gospel, Jesus presents two episodes of the past: Jonah and the Queen of
the South and transforms this into a mirror in such a way that one can discover
God’s call to conversion.
•
Luke 11: 29: The evil generation which asks for
a sign. Jesus calls the generation evil because it does not want to believe in
Jesus and continues to ask for signs which can indicate that Jesus has been
sent by the Father. But Jesus refuses to present these signs, because if they
ask for a sign, it is because they do not believe. The only sign which will be
given is that of Jonah.
•
Luke 11: 30: The sign of Jonah. The sign of
Jonah has two different aspects. The first one is what the text of Luke affirms
in today’s Gospel. Jonah was a sign, through his preaching, for the people of
Nineveh. Listening to Jonah, the people were converted. In the same way, the
preaching of Jesus was a sign for His people, but the people did not show any
sign of conversion. The other aspect is that which the Gospel of Matthew
affirms when he quotes the same episode: For as Jonah remained in the belly of
the sea- monster for three days and three nights, so will the Son of man be in
the heart of the earth for three days and three nights (Mt 12: 40). When the
fish vomited Jonah into the dry land, he went to announce the Word of God to
the people of Nineveh. In the same way, after the death and resurrection on the
third day, the Good News will be announced to the people of Judah.
•
Luke 11: 31: The Queen of the South. Following
this, Jesus recalls the story of the Queen of the South, who came from the ends
of the earth to meet Solomon, and to learn from his wisdom (cfr. I Kg 10:
1-10). Twice Jesus affirms: Look, there is something greater than Solomon here,
and look, there is something much greater than Jonah here.
A very important point in the discussion between Jesus and
the leaders of His people is the way in which Jesus and His enemies place
themselves before God. The Book of Jonah is a parable which criticizes the
mentality of those who wanted God only for the Jews. In the story of Jonah, the
pagans were converted listening to the preaching of Jonah and God accepts them
in His goodness and does not destroy the city. When Jonah sees that God accepts
the people of Nineveh and does not destroy the city Jonah became very
indignant. He fell into a rage. He prayed to the Lord: Lord, is not this what I
said would happen when I was still in my own country? That was why I first tried
to flee to Tarshish, since I knew You were a tender, compassionate God, slow to
anger, rich in faithful love, who relents about inflicting disaster. So now,
Lord, please take my life, for I might as well be dead as go on living!. (Jon
4: 1-3). For this reason, Jonah was a sign for the Jews of the time of Jesus
and it continues to be for us Christians. He wants for all to be disciples (Mt
28: 19), that is, that they be persons who, like Him, radiate and announce the
Good News of the love of God for all peoples (Mk 16: 15).
Personal Questions
•
Lent, the time for conversion. What has to
change in the image of God that I
have? Am I like
Jonah or like Jesus?
•
On what is my faith based, founded? In signs or
in the Word of Jesus?
Concluding Prayer
God, create in me a clean
heart, renew within me a resolute spirit, do not thrust me away from Your
presence, do not take away from me Your spirit of holiness. (Ps 51: 10-11)
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