Wednesday of the First Week in Lent
(Jonah 3:1-10; Luke 11:29-32)
Ancient Nineveh lay in the area of the current Iraqi city of Mosul. No existing historical records indicate Jonah’s preaching there, but there is a site called “Jonah’s Tomb.” Devout Muslims and curious tourists gather at the place to recall the reluctant prophet whose preaching is said to have converted a notoriously bad city of its evil ways.
The first reading shows Jonah announcing God’s wrath with Nineveh and the people responding. The author of the story emphasizes how it is a sincere, communal repentance. Not only common people but also the king and even the animals of the city fast and change heart. In the gospel Jesus calls his generation “evil” because it refuses to change accordingly despite his best efforts at preaching reform.
We too must repent of our sins wholeheartedly. This means that we don’t just say we are sorry or we don’t just go to confession. These are empty gestures if they are not accompanied by a change of attitude as well as practice. A young woman once confessed of having sexual relations with her boyfriend. “Will you promise not to have sex with him again?” the priest asked. “No,” she answered that she would not promise that. Then the priest said that he could not give her absolution. Just so, unless we promise whole-heartedly to stop taking God’s name in vain or to stop talking unjustly about others, we have not really repented of our sins.
