(Optional
Memorial for Seven Founders of the Order of Servites)
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| “Jonah Preaches to Nineveh” by Johann Christoph Weigel, 1639-1721 |
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
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
when the people of Nineveh
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 has tried
to run from God after the first time the word of God came to him. He has been
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
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 with 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
very “theoretical” kind of examination of the repentance theme, and we must
make it very personal for it to be effective in our lives.
So let’s sum up repentance in
one short, very personal, statement: Repentance is first recognition that we
have pierced God with our failure to love God, ourselves, others and even 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
[2]
The picture is “Jonah Preaches to Nineveh” by Johann Christoph Weigel,
1639-1721
[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 re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and
is for private use only.
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