Wednesday, I Lent
(Jonah 3 and Luke 11)
The other day the news reported that someone has petitioned Congress to award posthumous citizenship to Anne Frank. She was the Jewish girl whose diary moved the world to condemn the Holocaust. Before her family’s hiding place in Holland was discovered, her father had requested relatives in the United States to seek his family’s admittance. Since the request was denied, supporters of the Congressional petition say that granting her citizenship would be a sign of repentance of complicity in the Holocaust. Critics of the measure argue that it would be a cheap gesture since it requires no sacrifice on the part of the American people.
Other good reasons are being put forward on both sides of this debate. It will be interesting to see how it is played out. But for now we can note how it illustrates the call for repentance of the Scripture readings today. Jonah announces God’s wrath with Nineveh’s evil ways, and the people repent. The author emphasizes how it is a sincere, communal effort. Not only the people but the king and even the animals of the city fast and change heart. In the gospel Jesus calls his generation “evil,” but it refuses to repent of its sins as Nineveh does.
We too must repent of our sins, not just symbolically but wholeheartedly. This means that we don’t just say we are sorry or we don’t just go to confession. No, these would be empty gestures if they are not accompanied by a sincere attempt to change our sinful ways. A young woman once confessed of having sex with her boyfriend. “Are you going to promise not to have sex with him again?” the priest asked her. “No,” she answered, she couldn’t promise that. Then, she couldn’t receive absolution. Just so, unless we promise with all our heart to stop taking God’s name in vain or talking about others, we have not really repented of our sins.
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