COURAGE

Jonah 3:1-10; Ps 51 A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not Spurn; Luke 11:29-32

"When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil ways, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them..."

Remember the Serenity prayer.

God give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference...

This is an abbreviate version.  But the second line is important.  Courage to change the things I can.

The people of Nineveh found the courage to change.  This is what God saw.  The whole town was courageous.

This is a good grace for us during the season of Lent as we try to make changes in our life.  We should pray for courage and then act courageously especially in fasting and abstinence.

The greatest change should take place in where we look for happiness.  We have been duped.  We have given our souls over to a counterfeit love.  Lent invites us to rediscover our first love, or rather first lover in God himself.

Where do we invest our time, treasure, talent.  These are the places courage must illumine so that changes can occur.

Lastly, Pope Francis had a tweet out for lent:  During Lent, find concrete ways to overcome our indifference.

The people of Nineveh were no longer in different.  They finally became aware that their life is exposed, totally opened to he gaze of another.  We too must learn to embrace this reality.  Nothing is hidden before God.  All is open to him.

We need to learn to stand fast, resist, point out, recognize those things that are not good for anyone.

Learn to be shocked by things people say without tolerating it.  Learn to be in awe of God's action and presence in the world.  Learn to be sensitive so that evil in any form can be stared down and stopped from spreading forth.

This requires courage.  Courage to change the things we can.