Wednesday of the First Week of Lent

✠ | CLICK TO VIEW TODAY'S READINGS

Jonah 3:1-10

In today’s first reading, the Lord sends his messenger Jonah to the city of Nineveh to turn the people away from the evil way. With a strong messaging, Jonah convinced the people of Nineveh to change their ways. While reading this piece, I could not help but think that no human is perfect and sinless.

The Bible teaches us that the temptation is everywhere. Eve could not resist the temptation and she listened to the Snake (Lucifer) and ate the forbidden fruit. She later convinced Adam to eat it too. Although there were consequences for their acts, generations later did not learn from Adam and Eve’s mistake. The temptation grew and as the reading indicates, the whole city of Nineveh was filled with greed and lust.

When people finally decided to change, they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth as a sign of regret and submission. The purpose of this was inner purification and enlightenment. "Every man shall turn from his evil way and from the violence he has in hand”. When God witnessed their determination to change from their previous way of thinking, evil thoughts, and doings, He postponed the punishment they were threatened with.

Every human being struggles with resisting temptation at some point of our lives. When we cannot resist the temptation, God will be there for us, to show us the right way. God will be there to give us a second chance. It is, of course, our part to understand that we must deserve the second chance, we must acknowledge our mistakes, we must repent and learn to forgive ourselves. By learning how to forgive ourselves, we will learn how to forgive others. This is the key to one’s pursuit of a profound life.

Bora Dimitrov, SFC '16

Manager, SFC International

St. Francis College