Wednesday of the First Week in Lent

Lectionary: 226

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.

Jesus invokes Jonah's mission to Nineveh in today's gospel, and not the comical story of his encounter with "a great fish." Despite the misgivings of the spokesman, the Word of God did not fail when it was preached to gentiles. Rather, the entire city from the king on down, including the animals, heard the warning, recognized their wickedness, accepted the severe rebuke, and begged God for mercy. And received it. 

The sign given to Jesus's evil generation was his announcement of God's kingdom. But only his disciples were listening. 

Today we recite the 51st psalm of King David to express our willingness to repent,

Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;

in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.

Thoroughly wash me from my guilt

and of my sin cleanse me.

The original editor of the passage gives us the context of its writing, "A psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had gone in to Bathsheba."

Ravishing the vulnerable young wife and then murdering her husband were unspeakable crimes. They spoke of David's arrogance as the Lord's triumphs went to his head. Bored with governance while his army was in the field, the Anointed of God idled his time by exploiting one of the young wives in Jerusalem. And how many others? When one of the women became pregnant, he attempted to cover it by having her husband pay a conjugal visit to his wife. But the devout young man maintained the same abstinence as his comrades at war. His murder was more than a violation of God's law; it was a betrayal of the warrior king's covenant with his soldiers. 

When his crime was exposed, David repented, and his repentance was accepted. There were, however, ineluctable consequences. First, the death of the infant born of David's adultery, and then a most terrible curse, 

Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.

I have not heard a scripture scholar or theologian speak of this curse. The editors of the New American Bible footnote it with a reference to Absalom's plot against the king the murder of his brother Amnon, and the civil war that followed. But forever is longer than one upheaval in David's household. The Abrahamic religions -- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam -- have always been plagued with internal violence. 

Do I exaggerate? Perhaps, but abuse of power has caused endless sorrow and deep scandal. It plagues every church, government, and family; and every generation of leadership has added its own sad history.

We must never stop doing penance for the sins of our ancestors and our own sins. We must never forget that we are a sinful people, and left to our own devices we fall back into rank violations of God's love. 

And so the Church practices Lent. We acknowledge our part in the death of Jesus, and our hope that God will raise him up and restore him to us as our Savior and Lord.