Lenten Reflection Series 2023- March 1st

Jonah was a light to the Ninevites, a sign of hope for the people living in the shadows of evil and sin. He preached repentance and belief in God. Those three days, God was with Jonah; his Spirit and Word using the humble Jonah as an instrument of mercy.
In today's Gospel, Our Blessed Lord recalls the story of Jonah and how those people of Nineveh will be condemning the sins of those who were gathered listening to Jesus. Jonah was merely a sign, Jesus offers something more, he himself will become the instrument of forgiveness.
"There is something greater here." Must have been a shocking statement to hear from a man born in Bethlehem, the son of a carpenter. To his mainly Jewish audience, Jonah was an Old Testament hero! It was hard to grasp the idea God was going to send someone even better than him. Jesus was well aware of the skeptics, doubters, and haters.
Yet this didn't stop him on that Friday afternoon from offering himself on the cross for all of us. His love for us and for the Father was far greater than succumbing to the negativity of his audience that day.
​Now that you have heard that someone greater is amongst us, that someone who resides in the Tabernacle at every Church, that someone who speaks to you in the Scriptures, will you believe and repent?
Confessions is scary, the psychology of the human mind doesn't freely admit to doing wrong, sometimes we go to great lengths to even cover it up. We naturally reject guilt in our subconscience. It is only when we turn ourselves over to the Lord that we enter into a state of mind that not only allows us to confess our sins but encourages us to do so.
Take some time today to reflect on what we read in the Gospel. Do we want to follow in the footsteps of the Ninevites or do we want to hold out on forgiveness and mercy? The choice is yours.
God Bless,
Jonathan Molik
​Pastoral Associate