Wednesday of the First Week of Lent Reflection

Today's responsorial psalm is "A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn." God will not reject us if we go to him sincerely, repentantly, and humbly. On the one hand, this sounds so simple, we understand this. On the other hand, it is difficult to do because we don't often like to admit that we are wrong or imperfect. Or we think we must do so much more in order to be forgiven.

I was talking with a friend recently and he was telling me about his son, an eight-year-old boy. The son broke a small statue on a bookshelf. To the son’s credit, he told his dad he was playing with the statue and dropped it. The dad could hear the remorse in his son’s voice. And he told his son that he forgave him. For the next few days though, the son was still sad about the broken statue. His dad noticed and talked with him about it, reassuring him that he was not mad and that in fact, he was proud of him for being honest and not trying to hide what he did. After that, his son was back to normal.

The sign of Jonah that Jesus mentions in the Gospel today is given to us in the first reading. Jonah preached the message of God, and the people believed it. They converted. The people did not run away but were honest and changed their ways. This is precisely what pleases God. Our Lord wants us to turn to him, to admit our faults and wrongdoings, and to follow him. Like my friend’s son, sometimes we think that our punishment should be difficult or severe, but all that God asks of us is that we come to him with a contrite and humbled heart. If we have this disposition, then our Lord can work in us more and more. It is only the first week of Lent, and to come to our Lord sincerely and humbly is the first step. Take that first step!