1ST WEEK OF LENT
St. Peter Damian, bishop & doctor
Psalter: Week 1 / (Violet)
Ps 51:3-4, 12-13, 18-19
A heart contrite and humbled,
O God, you will not spurn.
1st Reading: Jon 3:1-10
The word of Yahweh came to Jonah a second time: “Go to Nineveh, the great city, and announce to them the message I give you.”
In obedience to the word of Yahweh, Jonah went to Nineveh. It was a very large city, and it took three days just to cross it. So Jonah walked a single day’s journey and began proclaiming, “Forty days more and Nineveh will be destroyed.”
The people of the city believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
Upon hearing the news, the king of Nineveh got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, put on sackcloth and sat down in ashes. He issued a proclamation throughout Nineveh:
“By the decree of the king and his nobles, no people or beasts, herd or flock, will taste anything; neither will they eat nor drink. But let people and beasts be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call aloud to God, turn from his evil ways and violence. Who knows? God may yet relent, turn from his fierce anger and spare us.”
When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened upon them.
Gospel: Lk 11:29-32
As the crowd increased, Jesus spoke the following words: “People of the present time are troubled people. They ask for a sign, but no sign will be given to them except the sign of Jonah. As Jonah became a sign for the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be a sign for this generation. The Queen of the South will rise up on Judgment Day with the people of these times and accuse them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and here, there is greater than Solomon. The people of Nineveh will rise up on Judgment Day with the people of these times and accuse them, for Jonah’s preaching made them turn from their sins, and here, there is greater than Jonah.
Reflections
NO SIGN WILL BE GIVEN THEM
It is human to want certainty in our life. And so when we pray for a decision we have to make, we ask for a sign to confirm our decision. This might happen once in a while. But for the most part this does not happen. Or we may tend to interpret something as a sign because it happens to be in accordance with what we want. In most cases God wants us to use the intelligence and free will we are gifted with to make our decisions. There are commandments and guidelines to help us, but we still have to use our judgment and also consider the context we are in. Is it possible that we make the wrong decision? Yes of course. But many times in the long run and on hindsight, what we thought was a mistake did become a stepping stone to success in the future. So instead of asking for signs, it is spiritually healthier to prayerfully discern what we have to do, courageously take action and leave everything in God’s hands.
Daily Reflection 2018
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Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL
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