Reading 1 Jon 3:1-10
“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 Psalm PS 51:3-4, 12-13, 18-19
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 Gospel Jl 2:12-13
Even now, says the LORD,return to me with your whole heart
for I am gracious and merciful.
Gospel Lk 11:29-32
“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.”
GREATER PROPHECY, REPENTANCE, AND FASTING
"This is an evil age." –Luke 11:29
Jonah prophesied to the people of Nineveh. "When the people of Nineveh believed God, they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth" (Jon 3:5). All 120,000 citizens of a city steeped in sin, violence, and murder (see Na 3:1ff) repented in one day (Jon 4:11). They expressed their repentance by communal fasting.
Pope St. John Paul II prophesied to the people of the world, especially to Catholics in the Western world. He called our Western society a "culture of death." He called us to pray that America not lose its soul. The Popes in their directives regarding sex education have described our society as "sick."
As the people of Nineveh heard the great prophet Jonah (see Lk 11:32), the people of our time have been privileged to hear the great prophet Pope St. John Paul II, the Vicar of Christ and the successor of Peter, the head of the apostles. Will we repent? Will our Lenten communal fast express a greater repentance, or at least lead to it? In this Lent, we may be repenting and fasting for our lives, souls, sanity, and humanity. If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts (see Ps 95:7-8). "Now is the acceptable time! Now is the day of salvation!" (2 Cor 6:2)
| PRAYER: | Father, may I fast in the power of the Spirit. |
| PROMISE: | "Who knows, God may relent and forgive, and withhold His blazing wrath, so that we shall not perish." –Jon 3:9 |
| PRAISE: | Formerly known as "The Praisers of Mary," the seven founders of the Servite order were guided to found their new order when Mary appeared to them. |
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