Wednesday of the First Week

Reflection 

The readings today are reminiscent of an old Anglican hymn that reappeared when John-Michael Tebelak included the lyrics in his master's thesis—better known as the wonderful musical, Godspell:

Turn back, O man, forswear thy foolish ways.
Old now is earth, and none may count her days,
Yet thou, her child, whose head is crowned with flame,
Still wilt not hear thine inner God proclaim:
“Turn back, O man, forswear thy foolish ways.”

This admonition threads through today’s excerpts from Jonah, Psalm 51, and Luke’s Gospel.  They speak to our need to admit our imperfection and wrongdoings and to seek the responsiveness of divine mercy.  We read some parallels in the work of Jonah and Jesus.  As God in His compassion saved the foul city of Nineveh when its residents awoke to the sign of Jonah, Jesus urged those near Him to acknowledge His sign and to change their ways and to follow Him to their salvation. The higher order of Jesus is well articulated when Luke, referring to the Savior tells us, “there is something greater than Solomon here…there is something greater than Jonah here.”  Perhaps we should hope to be as obedient to God’s Word as the reluctant Jonah and as wise as King Solomon and wake up to what is expected of us as followers of Christ. 

Prayer

We pray today for wisdom to discern the signs that point to what is expected of us as we strive to overcome our reluctance to follow them.  Amen.

Churchill Hindes, ‘69, Member of the Worshipping Community

Scripture

First Reading: Jonah 3:1-10
Psalm 51:3-4, 12-13, 18-19
Gospel: Luke 11:29-32

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website