Faith Daily | 9 March 2022

PRAYER of the DAY - APBA p 482

O Lord, who for our sake fasted forty days and forty nights:

give us grace to use such abstinence,

that, our flesh being subdued to the spirit,

we may ever obey your godly will

in righteousness and true holiness;

to your honour and glory,

who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,

one God, world without end.

Amen.

GOSPEL for the Day: Luke 11: 29-32

29When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation; it asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be to this generation. 31The queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here! 32The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here!

GOSPEL REFLECTION: Maggie Woolley

Lent is about sacrifice and self-examination and what better example than that of Jonah. I've always had a soft spot for poor old Jonah. God asks him to preach to the wicked Ninevites, but instead sets sail to escape God's demands. He eventually offers himself as a sacrifice in order to save the other men on the ship and has no idea what would happen to him when they threw him into the sea, but he is swallowed by a whale and for three days had time for self-examination. He realises he can't hide any more. He simply had to do what God asked of him and only through sacrifice and self-examination, Jonah finally conceded. That's faith!

We don't expect to be given such extreme and forceful signs as Jonah had, but sometimes we might ask to be given a sign, just a small one perhaps, so that we will have more faith. But this is precisely what Jesus was telling the Jews. We only have to look to Him to see the many signposts to true faith. How reassuring that is.

Richard Rohr, in his book Radical Grace writes this about faith:

"to have an attitude of faith is to hear the Lord speaking everywhere and all the time, in the concrete and ordinary circumstances of our lives. Then religion and life have become one and we are never far from God."

With all going awry in the world today, with so much devastation and suffering, it is sometimes difficult to find faith amongst all the confusion, but Jesus simply asks us to turn to Him.

FINAL PRAYER:

Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief. Knowing that you are in all things, everywhere, makes it possible to have faith in this world of turmoil and uncertainty. Open my eyes and my heart that I may see Your signs clearly and that my faith will be strengthened.

Amen.