Wednesday of the 1st Week of Lent
Mass Readings
First Reading – Jon 3:1-10
The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: “Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and announce to it the message that I will tell you.” So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh, according to the LORD’s bidding. Now Nineveh was an enormously large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began his journey through the city, and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,” when the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes. Then he had this proclaimed throughout Nineveh, by decree of the king and his nobles: “Neither man nor beast, neither cattle nor sheep, shall taste anything; they shall not eat, nor shall they drink water. Man and beast shall be covered with sackcloth and call loudly to God; every man shall turn from his evil way and from the violence he has in hand. Who knows, God may relent and forgive, and withhold his blazing wrath, so that we shall not perish.” When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 51:3-4, 12-13, 18-19 (R.19b)
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
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. R.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me. R.
For you are not pleased with sacrifices;
should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn. R.
Gospel – 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.”
Featured Saints
St. Innocent I, Pope (†417). He condemned Pelagianism, defended St. John Chrysostom, consoled St. Jerome, and approved St. Augustine.
St. Luigi Orione, priest (†1940). A student and spiritual disciple of St. John Bosco who went on to found the Little Work of Divine Providence and the Congregation of the Little Missionary Sisters of Charity in Italy, for the education of youth and care of the destitute. He died in San Remo, Italy.
Blessed Fina of San Gimignano, virgin (†1253). Afflicted by a serious disease at ten years of age, she died five year later, having endured her sufferings with admirable patience.
Blessed Peter the Deacon of Rome, deacon (†605). Designated by Pope St. Gregory the Great to administer the patrimony of the Church of Rome, he did so with prudence and wisdom.
Blessed Angela Salawa, virgin (†1922). Franciscan tertiary, she attained sanctity while employed as a domestic servant in Krakow, Poland, where she died in poverty at forty years of age.
St. Theophanes, monk (†817). Defender of the veneration of sacred images, he died of privation on the Isle of Samothracia, Turkey, where he had been exiled by the Iconoclast Emperor, Leo the Armenian.
St. Joseph Zhang Dapeng, martyr (†1815). After being baptized in Guiyang, China, he welcomed missionaries and catechists into his home. He was imprisoned, condemned and led to his death on a cross; he shed tears for having been considered worthy to die for Christ.
Blessed Justine Bézzoli Francúcci, virgin (+1369). Benedictine religious who was outstanding in the practice of austere penances. Her body was found to be incorrupt in the monastery of the Holy Spirit in Arezzo, Italy.
St. Paul Aurelian, Bishop (†sixth century). First Bishop of Saint-Polde-Léon, in present-day France.
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