First Wednesday of Lent

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.

Jonah told the people of Nineveh that in forty day their city would be destroyed and they responded by proclaiming a fast. There was no guarantee that God would relent and forgive them, only a hope that they might not perish. This act of penance and faith convinced God to spare them. When we commit sins, we act like the people of Nineveh before Jonah prophesizes to them. However, unlike them we have Christ as a constant reminder of our need to repent and an endless source of God’s mercy. Nineveh had only one chance to seek forgiveness from God and then only by proclaiming a fast. We, on the other hand, have access to the sacrament of reconciliation and its justifying grace whenever we want to seek it out. As long as we are contrite and accepting of God’s mercy we are forgiven of our sins.

Do we take advantage of the immeasurable gift we have been given in the sacrament of reconciliation? Do we ever call a fast, be it from food or other things, to manifest our contrition before God? When we look upon the cross do we not only see a warning against sin, but also the promise of God’s forgiveness?

O Lord, help us to fast from our sins and see you as the Great Sign of Mercy.

Amen.