SEEKING FOR SIGN

Prayer before Mass: Almighty and ever-living God, I approach the sacrament of Your only-begotten Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. I come sick to the doctor of life, unclean to the fountain of mercy, blind to the radiance of eternal light, and poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth. Lord, in Your great generosity, heal my sickness, wash away my defilement, enlighten my blindness, enrich my poverty, and clothe my nakedness. May I receive the Bread of Angels, the King of kings and Lord of lords, with humble reverence, with the purity and faith, the repentance and love, and the determined purpose that will help  to bring me to salvation. 

May I receive the sacrament of the Lord’s Body and Blood, and its reality and power. Kind God, may I receive the Body of Your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, born from the womb of the Virgin Mary, and so be received into His mystical body and numbered among His members.

Loving Father, as on my earthly pilgrimage I now receive Your beloved Son under the veil of a  sacrament, may I one day see Him face to face in glory, who lives and reigns with You forever. Amen. By Knights of the Holy Eucharist. Readings Lectures  Reflection  

First Reading                              Jonah 3:1-10 

The Ninevites repents, and God spares them
The word of the Lord was addressed to Jonah: ‘Up!’ he said ‘Go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach to them as I told you to.’ Jonah set out and went to Nineveh in obedience to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was a city great beyond compare: it took three days to cross it. Jonah went on into the city, making a day’s journey. He preached in these words, ‘Only forty days more and Nineveh is going to be destroyed.’ And the people of Nineveh believed in God; they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least. The news reached the king of Nineveh, who rose from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth and sat down in ashes. A proclamation was then promulgated throughout Nineveh, by decree of the king and his ministers, as follows: ‘Men and beasts, herds and flocks, are to taste nothing; they must not eat, they must not drink water. All are to put on sackcloth and call on God with all their might; and let everyone renounce his evil behaviour and the wicked things he has done. Who knows if God will not change his mind and relent, if he will not renounce his burning wrath, so that we do not perish?’ God saw their efforts to renounce their evil behaviour, and God relented: he did not inflict on them the disaster which he had threatened.

Responsorial Psalm

A humbled, contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn

Gospel                                      Luke 11:29-32

As Jonah became a sign for the Ninevites, 

so will  the Son of Man be a sign

The crowds got even bigger, and Jesus addressed them: 

‘This is a wicked generation; it is asking for a sign. The only sign it will be given is the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. On Judgement day the Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation and 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. On Judgement day the men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation and condemn it, because when Jonah preached they repented; and there is something greater than Jonah here.’

My loving Father, creation is a beauty to behold. The world and its wonders are mystery. We try to understand your creation, we seek knowledge in order to know the mystery in our world. The mystery of our existence and being. Father, the knowledge of you, is beyond our imagination, the origin of original sin: seeking knowledge of evil and good, though you created us in your image. We seek to be like god, yet we did not realize who we are for we are created in your image and likeness. We are your sons and daughters.

Father, may your grace abide in me. Keep me from sin. Do not condemn us, for you reveal yourself in your Son Jesus Christ. He came to show us the way, to save us. There are many who still doubt, and do not believe in the saving power of your Son by His death.  Father, do not condemn me, help me appreciate Christ coming and His sacrifice to redeem me, and all your creatures. 

Thank Father for sending your Son Jesus Christ, thank you Lord Jesus Christ for you are a greater sign in the history of  the salvation of  humanity. The sign of God's unfailing love. Lord Jesus Christ I trust in you.