THE WORD BECAME FLESH

Wednesday in the First Week of Lent, 2022

Jonah 3:1-10

Ps 51

Luke 11:29-32

The sign of Jonah

 

In the gospel reading (Lk 11:29-32), Jesus addresses his contemporaries as people who fail to appreciate him; they do not recognize the significance of his person, his presence, someone greater than Jonah, greater even than Solomon. If the people of Nineveh responded to Jonah and if the Queen of the South responded to Solomon, how much more should Jesus’ contemporaries respond to him. 

 

The same Jesus who was present to his contemporaries is present to us as risen Lord. We too can fail to appreciate the Lord who stands among us. Like Jesus’ contemporaries, we can look for signs without recognizing the powerful signs of his presence that are all around us. The greatest sign of the Lord’s presence, a sacred sign or sacrament, is the Eucharist. In the Eucharist the Lord is present to us under the form of bread and wine, saying to us, ‘This is my body… This is my blood’. In coming to the Lord in the Eucharist we are coming to someone greater than Jonah or Solomon. 

 

The Lord is present to us in other ways also. We take his presence seriously by responding to his call and following in his way, as the people of Nineveh responded to Jonah’s call, having been graced by the Lord’s presence, we are to respond to his presence by living in a graced way.

 

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, give me strength and courage to resist temptation and stubborn willfulness that I may truly desire to do what is pleasing to you. Amen.

+Remain blessed