Infinite Chances At Repentance

Wednesday of the First Week of Lent

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Book of Jonah 3:1-10

 “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.”

Broken Lenten promise.  Okay, it's confession time. I bought a bottle of wine and enjoyed two glasses yesterday evening. I planned to give up wine for the entire 40 days of Lent, but I didn't even last one week.  I feel guilty for going against my wine-imbibing fast.  I'm supposed to be changing for the better, right?  Let go of old habits and adopt new ones?  Practice what I preach?! Uh oh....

God could have squeezed me inside an empty wine bottle just like Jonah inside the belly of the whale! Toss me into the sea as my conscience screamed out, "Jen, you should never have bought that bottle of Fetzer sustainably-grown Cabernet!  You'd be safe and sound watching "Titanic" snuggling up with puppy instead of getting sea sick inside this bottle!  What kind of message are you sending to your blog readers?!".....

One thing that is so awesome about God is that he gives us infinite chances at repentance.  He understands we are all broken, easily falling into temptation.  Satan is diabolically vigilant this time of the year, poking his sharp pitchfork into our minds and hearts in hopes that we will totally screw up!  The more times we do "break" our fast, our prayer routine, and our almsgiving the more he laughs at us.  I certainly don't want the likes of Lucifer stinkin' up my Lent.  Do you?

Stinkin' Thinkin'  I came across the phrase "stinking thinking" today in an email meditation. It made me pause for a few moments because I've experienced a lot of stinky thoughts these past few weeks.  Some of these thoughts have been absolutely ridiculous and warped far from truth. It's like good ol' Satan has experienced loads of pre-Lenten fun inflaming my anxiety to a heighten level of negativity. I think others can relate to suffering from a bad case of pessimism.  It's no fun and causes so much useless fatigue.

Certainly, Jonah experienced a bad case of  stinkin' thinkin' when he disobeyed God's request to travel to Nineveh.  He tried to run away, but God forced him to swim around in that whale's belly.  I figure poor Jonah felt a little sorry for himself, wondering how he got stuck inside a blubbery mass in the first place!  Fortunately, Jonah recognized his sin, repented, and then went on to preach to the people at Nineveh.  The story has a happy ending as God decides to forgive the city for their transgressions.  They are all saved from God's blazing wrath.

How many times have we attempted to runaway from our problems?  How many times have said "No" to someone's request for help?  How many times have we pushed people away because we don't like what they do, think or say?

Take a chance!   We are only in the first week of Lent, so we have so many opportunities to change our ways, minds and hearts.  Most of us will "cheat" a little during our Lenten observance, but this is what makes us so viably human.  If conversion was an easy and painless endeavor, we wouldn't fall over and over again, begging for God's forgiveness and mercy.

 Lent is a special time for us to try the best we know how to let go of our sins and habits and realign ourselves more closely with God.  If Jonah can repent, and be forgiven by the Lord, so can we, too!

Immaculate Heart of Mary, Pray for Us!!

-J.