Wednesday of the First Week of Lent
(Jonah 3:1-10; Luke 3:29-32)
We are all sinners – one out of every one of us. We think too much of ourselves and too little
of others. Have you ever said something derogatory
and only half-true about another person just to produce a laugh? I have.
It is one source of my sinfulness.
During this season of Lent we make a collective effort to
examine our lives, locate the sources of our sinfulness and decide to root them
out. With this effort we hope to become more
like Jesus. He is the best model for lives
which please God and bless others.
Both readings today convey this message. The Book of the Prophet Jonah is neither oracle
nor history, but a story intended to catalyze repentance. In the gospel Jesus uses that story to remind
his generation and ours of the necessity of reform.
