YEAR A: HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE 1ST WEEK OF LENT (1)
HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE 1ST WEEK OF LENT HOMILY THEME: THE SIGH OF JONAH….” As Jonah became a sign for the people
The people of that time wanted signs and wonders. This was all they were interested in; the gospel of repentance did not appease to them.
YEAR A: HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE 1ST WEEK OF LENT
HOMILY THEME: THE SIGH OF JONAH….” As Jonah became a sign for the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be a sign for this generation”
BY: Fr. Roger J. LANDRY
HOMILY: Today Jesus describes that the sign he will give to “evil people” is himself as the “sign of Jonah”: «As Jonah became a sign for the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be a sign for this generation» (Lk 11:30). Just as Jonah allowed himself tossed overboard the boat to still the raging tempest and save the sailers’ lives, so Jesus allowed himself to be tossed overboard to calm the storms of sin that threatens our lives. Just as Jonah spent three days in the belly of the whale before being spit out on dry land, so Jesus would spend three days in the belly of the earth before walking out of the empty tomb (cf. Mt 12:40).
The sign that Jesus would give to the “evil people” of every generation is the sign of his death and resurrection. His death, freely accepted, is the sign of God’s incredible love for us: Jesus gave his life to save our own. His resurrection from the dead is the sign of his divine power. This is the most powerful and moving sign ever given.
But Jesus is the sign of Jonah in yet another sense. Jonah was an icon and agent of conversion. At his preaching, «Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed» (Jon 3:4), the pagan Ninevites converted, as everyone from the king to children to animals covered themselves in sackcloth and ashes. During these forty days of Lent, we have someone “far greater than Jonah” (cf. Lk 11:32) preaching conversion to us —Jesus himself— and our conversion should be just as thorough.
«For Jonah was a servant», St. John Chrysostom writes in the person of Christ, «but I am the Master; and he came forth from the whale, but I rose from death; and he proclaimed destruction, but I come preaching the Good News of the kingdom».
A week ago, on Ash Wednesday, we covered ourselves in ashes and heard individually the words of Jesus’ first homily, «Repent and believe in the Gospel» (cf. Mk 1:15). The question for us is: Have we responded yet with deep conversion like the Ninevites and embraced that Gospel?
Fr. Roger J. LANDRY (Hyannis, Massachusetts, United States)
