1st Week of Lent, Wednesday, Mar 4
Jonah 3:1-10 / Luke 11:29-32
People
asked Jesus for a sign
“No sign will be given."
The
sign of Jonah was the radical conversion of the Ninevites as a
result of Jonah’s preaching. The Ninevites underwent a radical conversion
because they heard God's voice in Jonah's. The reason they converted was that
their ears and hearts were open to what Jonah had to say. The Jews
weren't converted when they heard Jesus preach because they didn't recognize
God's voice in his. And the reason they didn't do this was that their ears and
hearts were closed to what Jesus had to say. If the Jews had opened their
hearts to Jesus’ preaching, they too would have seen the "sign of Jonah,”
a radical conversion of themselves and their brothers and sisters.
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How
open is our heart to what Jesus has to say? “You shall indeed hear but not
understand, you shall indeed look but never see.” Mt 13
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There are plenty of material about the predictions
of the end of the world and doomsday prophecies. So much so that we get numbed
by it and we begin to see them as some kind of a dumb joke. Yet, whether we
frown upon or make fun of it, there is an urgency about these doomsday
prophecies. Putting it simply, it tells us to be prepared and to get ready for impending
judgement and punishment. Well, in the 1st reading, if the people of Nineveh
were to frown or make fun of the prophet Jonah, then it would have been really
disastrous for them.
But they heeded the message, maybe because they acknowledge their evil behaviour and the wicked things they have done. The season of Lent calls us to conversion and repentance so that we can be forgiven and healed by God. Yet it is not a question of whether we are heeding the message. We all know we must repent, but is there an urgency? Let us not wait and take things easy, especially in this season of Lent.
The people of Nineveh were given three days. We may have lesser time.
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But they heeded the message, maybe because they acknowledge their evil behaviour and the wicked things they have done. The season of Lent calls us to conversion and repentance so that we can be forgiven and healed by God. Yet it is not a question of whether we are heeding the message. We all know we must repent, but is there an urgency? Let us not wait and take things easy, especially in this season of Lent.
The people of Nineveh were given three days. We may have lesser time.
****
Lent 1 Wednesday - Liturgy
Introduction
Even for pagans, even for those known for their
cruelty, like the people that enslaved the Jews, it is possible to be
converted. When the author of the Book of Jonah told this to the Jews, it was
an astonishing message to them. For Jews, yes, but for pagans? Jesus seems to
turn things around: pagans turn to God, but you, God’s people, don’t. Aren’t we
Christians perhaps too smug too, thinking that we are God’s people, and
therefore need no conversion?
With David and in Psalm 50, we shall pray:
-Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the
greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense
-A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast
spirit renew within me
-My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; a heart
contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn
Opening Prayer
Forgiving, merciful God, we pray 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.
General Intercessions
– That God may give to the Church the
courage to hear God’s call to constant conversion and renewal, we pray: –
That we may hear the call of the Lord to become ever more faithful to the
gospel, we pray: – That the Church and each of us may receive the call
of prophets to change what is to be changed, we pray:
The trouble with us is that we as Catholics sometimes
congratulate ourselves on how good we are. Yet we are called to live the gospel
more deeply, that it may be indeed good news for us and for the people around
us.
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God, your Son Jesus prayed for forgiveness for
those who tortured him. He invited sinners to his table as he invites us now. Let
him restore us and make us receive
humbly and graciously his forgiving love. May we too restore others by sharing
your mercy with them. We ask you this through Christ our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Merciful God, may we leave this Eucharistic
celebration as people changed by the word of Jesus, knowing where he wants us
to go. And may his bread of life be our strength to follow the path he has
shown us, the way to you and to people. For he is our way and our life, now and
for ever.
