Ash Wednesday Sermon: 40 Days and 40 Nights Jonah’s Obedience and the Ninevites’ Repentance. The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and announce to it the message that I will tell you. So Jonah set out for Nineveh, in accord with the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an awesomely great city; it took three days to walk through it. Jonah began his journey through the city, and when he had gone only a single day’s walk announcing, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be overthrown,” the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. Then he had this proclaimed throughout Nineveh: “By decree of the king and his nobles, no man or beast, no cattle or sheep, shall taste anything; they shall not eat, nor shall they drink water. Man and beast alike must be covered with sackcloth and call loudly to God; they all must turn from their evil way and from the violence of their hands. Who knows? God may again repent and turn from his blazing wrath, so that we will not perish.” When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out. My friends, today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the 40 days of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving that mark the period before Easter Sunday. It is a time of intense introspection, spiritual growth, and self-examination. It is meant as a time of conversion and reconciliation. The word “reconciliation” means, literally, “to turn with again.” If you imagine the gears in a cog moving with perfect precision, all going the way they should. Now imagine one decides not to move, or to move in the direction opposite of its function. The machine would stop working and that part would likely break apart under the pressure and tension of the machine attempting to continue its normal function. Reconciliation is when that part, us, “turns with” God again. We move in the direction God intends and toward the purpose for which we were placed on Earth: to love and serve God by loving and serving our neighbors. Ash Wednesday as a practice was, in the Apostolic Age, reserved for converts to Christianity. The catechumens (those seeking Baptism) would sit and listen to the scriptures and the homily, then they would be dismissed, never seeing the Liturgy of the Eucharist. They had to wear ashes, wear special clothing among the congregation, show acts of penitence and humility, pray publically, confess their sins in front of the congregation, and live lives free of all impurity and sin. They were assiduously examined and put to the test. Once they were baptized naked on the Great Vigil of Easter by either a deacon or a deaconess, they would finally partake of the Eucharist. HOWEVER! They would only be told that the Eucharist was the Body and Blood of Our Lord AFTER they had taken it, during Mystogagy. Mystogagy is the period for the converts after they have been initiated into Christianity during which they are further catechized. The word means “initiation into the cult.” I always told my neophytes, the title for the newly converted (it means “little plant” or “new shoot”), that we would teach them the secret handshake and let them read the secret Vatican documents during Mystogagy. After the Edict of Milan in the 4th century, when Christianity became the required religion of the land, so many converts came to the churches that Lent (an old English word meaning “forty”) became a time of conversion for the whole church. Why is Lent 40 days? Well, because 40 has a special numerological meaning in the Hebrew Bible (OT). Let’s look at some of the major “forties” of Scripture: The 40 days of flood in Noah (Genesis 7:4) The 40 years Israel wandered in the wilderness. (Numbers 22) The 40 days Moses spent on Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:18) The 40 days Elijiah spent walking to Mount Horeb (1 Kings 19:8) The 40 days that God told Jonah to gave in his warning to the city of Nineveh to repent or be destroyed (Jonah 3:4) The 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness, where He fasted and was tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1–2, Mark 1:12–13, Luke 4:1–2). The 40 hours Jesus lay in the tomb (from 3 pm Good Friday until 5 am Sunday). The 40 days Jesus spent teaching his disciples after the resurrection before he ascended on the 40th day. Wow. That’s a lot of forties. As someone who turns 40 during Lent, it’s difficult to right it over and over like this. So why 40? Well, the question is pretty obvious once someone tells you. Before, though, 40 doesn’t strike us as a mystical number. But think of this: what biological condition lasts for a 40? How about a hint: 40 weeks? All the women just got it. Well, the mothers did, anyway. They counted those 40 weeks at least once. PREGNANCY lasts forty weeks. We say 9 months, but it’s actually 40 weeks. After 40 weeks, the baby is late. This has been a known fact for as long as women have helped each other give birth and mother children. So what does this have to do with the Old Testament? Why would forty be important to God? Every time you see a forty, pay close attention to the beginning and end of the 40-something period. At the beginning, you will see the planting of a seed—the beginning of some huge idea or event –and at the end you will see the emergence of a New Creation. The flood, for example: God choose a handful of good people and recreated a new Earth with them and the animals. Israel left Egypt as slaves and entered the Promised Land a special nation with only one God, YHWH. Jesus was baptized publicly, his first major public appearance. He is led to the desert and tempted. When the 40 days are over, he begins his public ministry. Our Lord enters the tomb, apparently defeated. He emerges, having created a church that, through baptism, completely regenerates the human soul. That is why we spend these forty days of Lent, wandering the desert of our hearts with Our Lord, fasting and praying and resisting our own, person demons and temptations. We get rid of addictions so that we can remind our bodies that our minds and wills are in charge, not our body’s demands. The flesh makes a great servant but a poor master, and when you give it candy constantly when it wants it, your will becomes the slave and your body the master. Incidentally, that’s why we have Easter Baskets full of candy. Because, during Lent, people usually gave up sweets. On Easter, they could finally have that chocolate. Mardis Gras and Fat Tuesday exist because of Lent, as well. New Orleans is a Catholic City historically. They had this festival, a New World remake of Carnivale in Europe which had the same function and meaning, to celebrate the period before all celebration would end. What should you do this Lent? Good question. What is your TRUE master? What makes you do things you don’t want to? How do you wish your spiritual life was? Sit and make some decisions about what changes should be made and which CAN be made. Remember: if you’re going through distress or illness, you might better add something than take something away. It depends on your situation. During Lent, we all know we’re supposed to give something up, but it might be better for many of us to bring something in. Some good spiritual practices that will help our relationship with God bring more grace to our lives. I’ll be putting up links to excellent books, movies, prayer practices, and music. Anything I can to help you along the way. I also recommend you read the entire book of Jonah. Nineveh was the capitol of the Nation of Babylon. Jonah prophesied a couple of generations before the Babylonians would captured Israel and Judah and destroy the Temple in Jerusalem. However, Jonah WAS a prophet. What if the reason he didn’t want to accept the mission was because he knew? What if he KNEW Babylon would destroy his own people, his own grandchildren, and lead them into captivity? That would explain why a prophet of God would run from a mission and then become despondent when the mission succeeds. After the reading I posted above, Jonah becomes angry and depressed, asking the Lord why He gave the ninivites a second chance. God’s answer is classic God. “I’ll love everyone if I want to.” The Book of Jonah is 3 pages long. As a Lenten reading, try this one. I’ve placed a link below. I pray that your Lent is fruitful, that your prayer is intense, that your will wins the battle, and that Our Lord sends you the graces and strength you need in order to prepare for His Glorious resurrection. Amen. usccb.org/bible/jonah/1
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 00:43:25 +0000