Reflections on Scripture | Wednesday of the 1st Week in Lent

Join Msgr. Don Fischer as he reads and delivers a short reflection on today’s gospel, followed by 3 1/2 minutes of contemplative music and a closing prayer. Msgr. Don hopes that today’s reflection on the gospel will empower you to carry the Word in your heart throughout the day.

Choose either the video or audio below.

Gospel
Luke 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.”

Reflection

There’s an interesting comparison between the Old Testament and New Testament in this passage.

The Old Testament was powerful. It did teach us things. But there's something so much greater than all of those, the stories of prophets and kings and patriarchs. They all led up to something radically new, radically different. And this effectiveness of the words in the ministry, in the presence of Jesus, is radically new. And so we need to pay attention always to the New Testament as the core of the teaching that fulfills the Old Testament.

Closing Prayer

Father, in the Old Testament, you were proving that you were the one and only God, and you began slowly to reveal yourself to those that you called to be your followers. But it was not until the New Testament that you were able to reveal fully what your intention is for all of us, it’s to pay attention to all that you are teaching us and to go through a transition filled with the wisdom greater than Solomon, the ability to change a world better than Jonah. That's how our inheritance, bless us with it. Help us to be aware of it, to live in the New Testament. And we asked this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Kyle Cross