Fallen man is not simply an imperfect
creature who needs improvement; he is a rebel who must lay down his arms.
Laying down your arms, surrendering, saying you are sorry, realizing that you
have been on the wrong track and getting ready to start life over again … is
what Christians call repentance. –C.S. Lewis: (1898 –1963: was a British
novelist, poet, & academic)
Gospel
Text: (LK 11:29-32)
While still more people gathered in
the crowd, Jesus said to them,
"This generation is an evil
generation;
it seeks a sign, but no sign will be
given it,
except the sign of Jonah.
Just as Jonah became a sign to the
Ninevites,
so will the Son of Man be to this
generation.
At the judgment
the queen of the south will rise with
the men of this generation
and she will condemn them,
because she came from the ends of the
earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon,
and there is something greater than
Solomon here.
At the judgment the men of Nineveh
will arise with this generation
and condemn it,
because at the preaching of Jonah they
repented,
and there is something greater than
Jonah here."
In the Gospel reading, in similar
fashion, Jesus castigates the people for their hardness of heart and
unwillingness to see and to listen to his message. He reminds them that the
Queen of the South traveled far to listen to Solomon and yet "here (today)
there is greater than Solomon"; the people of Nineveh repented in
sackcloth and ashes at the preaching of Jonah and yet "here (today) there
is greater than Jonah."
As we begin the season of Lent let us
take seriously the message of repentance for our sins: "0 my God, I am
heartily sorry for having offended thee and I detest all my sins because I
dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell; but most of all because I have
offended thee, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly
resolve with the help of thy grace to confess my sins, to do penance and to
amend my life. Amen."
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