March 9
Wednesday of the First Week of Lent
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Give a Mass Offering
Mass Intentions
7:45 AM – John Fennessey / David Rapp
Prayer for Spiritual Communion
My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.
Readings
First Reading
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 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
Psalms 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.
Gospel Acclamation
Joel 2:12-13
R. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory!
Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart
for I am gracious and merciful.
R. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory!
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 will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.”
“A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.”
Reflection
Today we jump into the story of Jonah, someone who we might call a reluctant prophet. The story is well known to most of us. Jonah was ordered to go to the city of Nineveh and preach repentance to the evil people who lived there. But Jonah had other ideas, running away from God, only to be brought back by his three day experience in the belly of a whale. Once he decided to go through with his assignment, he was very successful in helping the Ninevites to repent. He was so successful, in fact, that Jesus uses his example in one of his sermons that comes up in our gospel today.
Jesus tells his listeners that their generation is looking for a sign in order for the people to repent of their sins. He goes on to say that there will be a sign similar to that of Jonah and that this sign will be all they should need for their repentance. He is talking about his time in the tomb after his crucifixion. In the same way that Jonah spends three days in the belly of the whale before he is freed to go on with his mission, Jesus will spend three days in the tomb before he is resurrected and able to continue his own mission—to reveal the glorious Kingdom of God to the world. But Jesus tells the people that their generation will not repent because of their evil ways and will be condemned by both the Queen of the South, and by the people of Nineveh. The Queen of the South and the people of Nineveh did repent when they heard of their evil, but the people that Jesus is speaking to will not repent.
For us, repentance is a powerful part of our Lenten experience. During this time, we think about the ways we have fallen short of God’s expectations for us. We also should be thinking of ways to do better. Let us turn to God for forgiveness and mercy and ask him to guide us to greater repentance.
God bless,
Deacon Dare
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