First Week of Lent, Wednesday, March 3

Jonah 3:1-10; Luke 11:29-32

Forty days and Nineveh shall be destroyed. God instructs Jonah to announce this. When the people hear it, they understand why this is going to happen. It is due to their wickedness. Each recognizes that he must turn from his evil way and from the violence he has in his hand. The people of Nineveh repent, do penance. God relents.

In the today's Psalm (196), we prayed: A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn. Contrition. True regret and sorrow for having offended God. "The Passion of the Christ" is hugely successful in its first few days. It should move us to sorrow for the sins we have committed-knowingly and unknowingly-that cause Christ to suffer so horribly. Are we deeply sorry, will we set everything aside, like the King of Nineveh, and do penance?

Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. Not too long ago we read at Mass about the Queen of Sheba going to visit Solomon and that she was impressed, she was breathless, over the deeds and the wisdom of Solomon. Sheba was herself no petty monarch to find herself so moved by the greatness of Solomon. Jesus tells us that there is something greater than Solomon here. Solomon sat on a magnificent throne, as a sign. Jesus rules from a throne that goes counter to all conventional signs of glory: a Cross to which he is nailed. And he is greater than Solomon. Let us not miss the sign of Jesus. At the preaching of Jonah, they reprented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.

Let us repent, humble our hearts, pray acts of contrition-forgive us our trespasses-as we learned in yesterday's Gospel. We see the wickedness of our ways, of the evil in hand within our society. Are we going to deny it, or be like the Ninevites who know they need to repent forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed? God is not going to destroy our civilization, but we could. Our great civilization can be destroyed by our complacency. Certainly, sin will always be with us, but we can overcome the destruction of sin by our personal commitment to beg forgiveness, to turn away from sin, to do penance. Our Lord will relent and we will be the sign of Jonah, rebellious ones who surrender and are saved.

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