『Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.』

St. Frances of Rome, religious 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊  

Jonah 3:1-10

 The word of Yahweh

Came to Jonah a second time:   “Go to Ni­ne­veh, the great city, and announce to them the message I give you.”

In obedience to the word of Yah­weh, Jonah went to Nineveh. It was a very large city, and it took three days just to cross it.  So Jo­nah walked a single day’s journey and began proclaiming, “Forty days more and Nineveh will be de­stroyed.”

 The people of the city believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.

 Upon hearing the news, the king of Nineveh got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, put on sackcloth and sat down in ashes. He issued a proclamation throughout Nineveh:

“By the decree of the king and his nobles, no people or beasts, herd or flock, will taste anything; neither will they eat nor drink.  But let people and beasts be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call aloud to God, turn from his evil ways and violence.   Who knows? God may yet relent, turn from his fierce anger and spare us.”

 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened upon them.

 

Ps 51:3-4, 12-13, 18-19

A heart contrite and humbled, O , God, you will not spurn.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊ 

Luke 11:29-32

As the crowd increased, Jesus spoke the following words: "People of the present time are troubled people. They ask for a sign, but no sign will be given to them except 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.

The Queen of the South will rise up on Judgment Day with the people of these times and accuse them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and here, there is greater than Solomon.

The people of Nineveh will rise up on Judgment Day with the people of these times and accuse them, for Jonah's preaching made them turn from their sins, and here, there is greater than Jonah.

 

Gospel Reflection：

Lust for Signs

An interesting anecdote is said of St. John of the Cross. While he was in Lisbon, his confreres were eager to visit a famed stigmatic in that city. They urged John to go with them to meet the stigmatic. But John refused.

He wasn't interested in the miraculous. Hence, while his brothers eagerly visited the stigmatic, John spent the evening by the sea, reading the Bible. People such as John would be a minority; for we have an insatiable lust for the miraculous.

We thirst for signs and miracles. Such obsession for signs unfortunately reveals our lack of faith and trust in God, because, for a person who has faith, isn't every moment of life a miracle and every event in life a sign of God's presence and love?

When we have such faith-filled eyes, we will look at every bird and every lily and see the signs of God's everyday Providence, as Jesus could and did (cf. Mt 6:25-34).