March 1st

March 1, 2023
Wednesday of the 1 st Week of Lent
Readings: Jon 3:1-10/Lk 11:29-32 (226) 
Elijah Chavarria: Freshman

Daily Reading Reflection

In the first reading, the Lord threatens to destroy the big city of Nineveh. The people and
the king hear God’s threat and immediately proclaim a fast. They all put on sackcloth, and the
king laid aside his robe and sat in the ashes. The king declared that every man and woman shall
turn away from their evil way and from the violence they have in hand. After all the inhabitants
of Nineveh had done this, God saw how they turned away from their evil way and he did not
carry out his threat. The way I see the overall message of this reading is that only when people
are threatened to have something taken from them, do they repent and turn away from their evil
doings. Despite only repenting when threatened, God still realizes their change of heart and
forgives them.
Now let's apply this to our modern situation. If people only change from bad to good
when threatened, is it really what the threatener wanted? What if the people go back to their
ways after the threatener forgives them? In this scenario, the person who threatened them only
wants them to change for the better, but if it comes down to having to threaten the person do they
change to better themselves or change just because of the threat? In the religious sense, God only
wants us to turn to him instead of evil and sin. He loves us so much that, even if he had to
threaten the us, he would forgive us no matter what. This doesn’t mean he wants to threaten us,
the way I see it is this; God uses the threat of punishment as a last resort. All God wants is for us
to live a good life with him without fear of punishment so that one day we may go to heaven and
truly be with him. My overall reflection is that God loves his people so much, and all he wants is

for us to be with him. So much so that he is even willing to threaten us to save us from evil, and
wrongdoings.
-Thank You