Wednesday of the First Week in Lent
Lectionary: 226
Lectionary: 226
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.
"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
PsalmPS 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.
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 GospelJL 2:12-13
Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart
for I am gracious and merciful.
return to me with your whole heart
for I am gracious and merciful.
GospelLK 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.”
“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.”
Meditation: The sign of Jonah for an evil
generation
Do you pay careful attention to warning signs? Many
fatalities could be avoided if people paid attention to such signs. When the
religious leaders demanded a sign from Jesus, he gave them a serious warning to
avert spiritual disaster. It was characteristic of the Jews that they demanded
"signs" from God's messengers to authenticate their claims.
God warns us for our good - do you listen?
When the religious leaders pressed Jesus to give proof for his claims he says in so many words that he is God's sign and that they need no further evidence from heaven than his own person. The Ninevites recognized God's warning when Jonah spoke to them, and they repented. And the Queen of Sheba recognized God's wisdom in Solomon. Jonah was God's sign and his message was the message of a merciful God for the people of Nineveh.
When the religious leaders pressed Jesus to give proof for his claims he says in so many words that he is God's sign and that they need no further evidence from heaven than his own person. The Ninevites recognized God's warning when Jonah spoke to them, and they repented. And the Queen of Sheba recognized God's wisdom in Solomon. Jonah was God's sign and his message was the message of a merciful God for the people of Nineveh.
Unfortunately the religious leaders were not content
to accept the signs right before their eyes. They had rejected the message of
John the Baptist and now they reject Jesus as God's Anointed One (Messiah)
and they fail to heed his message. Simeon had prophesied at Jesus' birth that
he was destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be
a sign that will be opposed so that inner thoughts of many will be revealed(Luke
2:34-35). Jesus confirmed his message with many miracles in preparation for the
greatest sign of all - his resurrection on the third day.
Let God's word of truth set you free from sin and
ignorance
The Lord Jesus came to set us free from slavery to sin and hurtful desires. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit he pours his love into our hearts that we may understand his will for our lives and walk in his way of holiness. God searches our hearts, not to condemn us, but to show us where we need his saving grace and help. He calls us to seek him with true repentance, humility, and the honesty to see our sins for what they really are - a rejection of his love and will for our lives. God will transform us if we listen to his word and allow his Holy Spirit to work in our lives. Ask the Lord to renew your mind and to increase your thirst for his wisdom and truth.
The Lord Jesus came to set us free from slavery to sin and hurtful desires. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit he pours his love into our hearts that we may understand his will for our lives and walk in his way of holiness. God searches our hearts, not to condemn us, but to show us where we need his saving grace and help. He calls us to seek him with true repentance, humility, and the honesty to see our sins for what they really are - a rejection of his love and will for our lives. God will transform us if we listen to his word and allow his Holy Spirit to work in our lives. Ask the Lord to renew your mind and to increase your thirst for his wisdom and truth.
James says that the wisdom from above is first
pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits,
without uncertainty or insincerity (James 3:17). A double-minded
person cannot receive this kind of wisdom. The single of mind desire one thing
alone - God's pleasure. God wants us to delight in him and to know the freedom
of his truth and love. Do you thirst for the holiness without which no
one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14)?
"Lord Jesus, change my heart and fill me
with your wisdom that I my love your ways. Give me strength and courage to
resist temptation and stubborn wilfulness that I may truly desire to do what is
pleasing to you."
A Daily Quote for Lent: Don't put off conversion - tomorrow may
never come, by Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"God is not now so long-suffering in putting up
with you that He will fail to be just in punishing. Do not say then: 'Tomorrow
I shall be converted, tomorrow I shall please God, and all that I shall have
done today and yesterday will be forgiven me.' What you say is true: God has
promised forgiveness if you turn back to Him. But what He has not promised is
that you will have tomorrow in which to achieve your conversion." (excerpt from Commentary on Psalm 144,11)
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, LUKE
11:29-32
Lenten Weekday
(Jonah 3:1-10; Psalm 51)
Lenten Weekday
(Jonah 3:1-10; Psalm 51)
KEY VERSE: "This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah" (v 29).
TO KNOW: When the people demanded a sign from Jesus as proof that his miracles were genuine, he accused them of lacking faith. He declared that the only sign he would give them would be the sign of Jonah's "death and resurrection" from the belly of a fish (Jonah 2). When Jonah was sent to preach to Nineveh in Assyria (Israel's enemy), the prophet was astonished when those pagan people repented and turned toward God (Jon 3:1-10). Jesus was a prophet greater than Jonah, yet the Gentiles were more receptive to his message than were his own people. Jesus noted that the Queen of Sheba had come from afar to learn the wisdom of King Solomon (1 Kgs 10:1-10). In contrast, Jesus, the wisdom of God, was spurned and rejected even though he came from God to offer them the gift of eternal life.
TO LOVE: Am I, like Jonah, reluctant to speak God's words to unbelievers?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, help me to repent of my sins and heed your words.
Optional Memorial of Saint Peter
Damian, bishop and doctor of the Church
Peter Damian gave up his teaching to become a Benedictine monk. He founded hermitages, and was occasionally called on by the Vatican to make peace between arguing monastic houses, clergymen, and government officials. As Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia, Peter Damian tried to restore discipline among priests and religious who were becoming more and more of the world. A prolific correspondent, he wrote dozens of sermons, seven biographies (including a one of Saint Romuald), and poetry, comprising some of the best Latin of the time. He tried to retire to being a monk, but was routinely recalled as papal legate. He was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1828.
Wednesday 21
February 2018
St Peter Damien.
Jonah 3:1-10. Psalm 50(51):3-4, 12-13, 18-19. Luke 11:29 32.
A broken, humbled heart, O God, you will not scorn—Psalm
50(51):3-4, 12-13, 18-19.
‘It’s inherent in human nature to want to know more than I know
right now’ (Buzz Aldrin).
The world craves the unknown, yet demands truths that are able
to be held and observed, signs of confirmation. Every now and then, we may
refuse to believe something because we cannot see it, and even when we come
face to face with a certain truth, we may still find it difficult to believe.
This is when we find ourselves standing amongst the crowd in today’s gospel.
To approach our faith in God with this mind-set is like putting
on a thick woollen jumper when going to the beach on a hot summer’s day. Our intention
seems to be out of place. Christ is a sign of God’s love. God’s love is to be
grasped by the heart and not the hand. There is no endpoint to this sign
either, as God’s love is continuously revealed to us when we meet and greet
Christ in others.
Saint Peter Damian
Saint of the Day for February 21
(988 – February 22, 1072)
Saint Peter Damian’s Story
Maybe because he was orphaned and had been treated shabbily by
one of his brothers, Peter Damian was very good to the poor. It was the
ordinary thing for him to have a poor person or two with him at table and he
liked to minister personally to their needs.
Peter escaped poverty and the neglect of his own brother when
his other brother, who was archpriest of Ravenna, took him under his wing. His
brother sent him to good schools and Peter became a professor.
Already in those days, Peter was very strict with himself. He
wore a hair shirt under his clothes, fasted rigorously and spent many hours in
prayer. Soon, he decided to leave his teaching and give himself completely to
prayer with the Benedictines of the reform of Saint Romuald at Fonte Avellana.
They lived two monks to a hermitage. Peter was so eager to pray and slept so
little that he soon suffered from severe insomnia. He found he had to use some
prudence in taking care of himself. When he was not praying, he studied the
Bible.
The abbot commanded that when he died Peter should succeed him.
Abbot Peter founded five other hermitages. He encouraged his brothers in a life
of prayer and solitude and wanted nothing more for himself. The Holy See
periodically called on him, however, to be a peacemaker or troubleshooter,
between two abbeys in dispute or a cleric or government official in some
disagreement with Rome.
Finally, Pope Stephen IX made Peter the cardinal-bishop of
Ostia. He worked hard to wipe out simony–the buying of church offices–and
encouraged his priests to observe celibacy and urged even the diocesan clergy
to live together and maintain scheduled prayer and religious observance. He
wished to restore primitive discipline among religious and priests, warning
against needless travel, violations of poverty, and too comfortable living. He
even wrote to the bishop of Besancon complaining that the canons there sat down
when they were singing the psalms in the Divine Office.
He wrote many letters. Some 170 are extant. We also have 53 of
his sermons and seven lives, or biographies, that he wrote. He preferred
examples and stories rather than theory in his writings. The liturgical offices
he wrote are evidence of his talent as a stylist in Latin.
He asked often to be allowed to retire as cardinal-bishop of
Ostia, and finally Pope Alexander II consented. Peter was happy to become once
again just a monk, but he was still called to serve as a papal legate. When
returning from such an assignment in Ravenna, he was overcome by a fever. With
the monks gathered around him saying the Divine Office, he died on February 22,
1072.
In 1828, he was declared a Doctor of the Church.
Reflection
Peter was a reformer and if he were alive today would no doubt
encourage the renewal started by Vatican II. He would also applaud the greater
emphasis on prayer that is shown by the growing number of priests, religious,
and laypersons who gather regularly for prayer, as well as the special houses
of prayer recently established by many religious communities.
LECTIO DIVINA: LUKE 11,29-32
Lectio Divina:
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Lent Time
1) 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.
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.
2) 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.”
3) 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).
4) 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?
5) 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)
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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