Toward Easter - Daily Readings & Meditations for Lent 2025 - Day 34

Today, we explore the profound story of Nineveh's conversion—a city once known for depravity and corruption that was transformed through 40 days of fasting and prayer. "O wonder of grace, who will sound the depths of the divine mercy?" This biblical account serves as a powerful mirror for our own Lenten journey, challenging us to recognize the transformative potential of genuine penance. When Jonas proclaimed destruction, the people responded with repentance, and they were saved.

The tradition of veiling sacred images during Passion Tide takes center stage in our discussion. As Dom Guéranger beautifully explains, these coverings symbolize Christ hiding himself from those who sought to stone him—"a God hiding Himself that He may evade the anger of men. What a mystery!" The veiled crosses and statues in our churches create a visual emptiness that paradoxically heightens our spiritual anticipation while acknowledging the profound mystery of divine humiliation. When we look upon these covered images, we're reminded that sometimes, the most powerful spiritual truths are temporarily hidden from view.

The wisdom of the saints accompanies us today: St. John Vianney reminds us, "If you have not made sacrifices, you will have nothing to harvest," while Blessed Anne de Guigne observes that amid life's fleeting joys, "That which lasts is to have made a sacrifice." As we enter the final stretch of Lent, let these insights inspire you to deepen your commitment to prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. The transformation of Nineveh shows us what's possible—not just for our individual souls, but potentially for our communities and world.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Passion Week
• 2:53 Story of Nineveh's Conversion
• 5:22 Prayer and Reflections for Monday
• 8:01 Thoughts on Fasting and Penance
• 11:17 The Veiling Tradition Explained
• 15:08 Call to Finish Lent Strong

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:50

Sancte, sancte, amare morti decadas nos. Good morning everyone and welcome to Monday in Passion Week. We are on day 34 here of Lent and yesterday was Passion Sunday, so we are within Passion Tide. In case you're somehow just joining me now, these meditations, these readings, are on YouTube and Rumble, as well as Locals, and they're also on all the different audio podcast apps. The readings are from the book Toward Easter by Father Patrick Trodek. The link to purchase is in the description below and we will get going here. I'll throw up an image on screen so you can just listen. And here we go. Monday and Passion Week Christian Penance.

Speaker 1: 2:17

From the Book of Jonas, chapter 3, verses 4-5, and Verse 10. Jonas cried and said Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be destroyed. And the men of Nineveh believed in God and they proclaimed a fast from the greatest to the least. And God saw their works, that they were turned from their evil way, and the Lord, our God, had mercy upon his people. In the first reading, the Church offers us today the story of the conversion of the inhabitants of Nineveh. O wonder of grace, who will sound the depths of the divine mercy? Here is a great city given over to the worship of false gods and to pleasure. Known among the nations for its depravity and corruption. Known among the nations for its depravity and corruption, which suddenly halts on the road to perdition at the prophetic voice of Jonas, sent by heaven. Its inhabitants, touched by the word of Jonas foretelling the destruction of the city, do penance and are saved. By this example, the Church is trying to enliven our courage for works of penance.

Speaker 1: 3:34

This beautiful passage from the Old Testament reminds us how the penance of Lent draws graces down on us from God and obtains for us His merciful forgiveness. As an echo of this text, the Gospel proclaims with the voice of our Lord If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink. He that believeth in me, as the Scripture saith, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters. Now, this he said of the Spirit which they should receive who believed in him. Lord Jesus, in seeing the transformation worked in the inhabitants of Nineveh, I admire the power of Thy grace, and so I ask Thee for the grace to destroy in me whatever displeases Thee. Also, in hearing Thee speak of living water, I long to see Thee quench in me the thirst for all that is earthly and temporal, and to transform me into Thee by the frequent reception of the Holy Eucharist. Finally, I commit myself today to making a sacrifice for the conversion of sinners. And now we have a prayer from Father Gabriel.

Speaker 1: 4:47

St Mary Magdalene from Divine Intimacy, volume 2, page 87. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, amen. Grant to me, o Lord Jesus, by the infinite merits of Thy passion to convert to Thee with all my heart. Do not allow me to give in to discouragement at the continual return of my selfish tendencies or at the constant battle which I have to wage against them. Make me understand more fully that if I want to convert totally to Thee, I can never be indulgent toward my weaknesses, my defects, my self-centeredness or my self-love. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, amen.

Speaker 1: 5:42

Our first thought for today comes from St John Vianney. If you have not made sacrifices, you will have nothing to harvest. The day is coming when we shall discover that nothing we did to earn heaven was too much. Our second thought today comes from Blessed Anne de Guignet. We have many joys on earth, but they do not last. That which lasts is to have made a sacrifice.

Speaker 1: 6:27

We have three resolutions today. We have three resolutions today. The first, to make a spiritual communion if we cannot make a sacramental communion. The second, to offer a sacrifice for the conversion of sinners Penance of food or leisure or physical effort, like walking up the stairs rather than taking the elevator, or leisure or physical effort, like walking up the stairs rather than taking the elevator. Number three, to offer a little penance for the public sins of nations.

Speaker 1: 7:14

So today in the epistle we see a type of Lent. In the Old Testament, jonas goes to Nineveh and tells them you know, 40 days and Nineveh shall be destroyed. So Nineveh, believing in God, now they proclaim a fast, 40 day fast, and it saves their nation. Right, and they were known, known for depravity and evil and corruption and 40 days of fasting and prayer, and it saves their entire nation. Imagine if our country did something like call a fast from the greatest to the least for 40 days. Certainly could not hurt.

Speaker 1: 8:09

But of course Lent is about our personal fast, our personal penances for 40 days. I mean, if you think about it, it's so crazy that we have gotten rid of the fasting, rid of the abstinence, rid of the penance, for the most part during Lent. You know now, what is it? Only Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fasting, fasting. Only Fridays throughout Lent are days of abstinence. We teach kids that a penance is giving up a type of candy they like or pop or something like that, and we wonder why our church and, by extension, our culture and society are so screwed up when we can't even ask Christians fast for 40 days. Sorry about that alarm. So, yeah, we see this type of Lent in the Old Testament. We see a nation save itself through through fasting and penance. So let's double down on our fasting and penance.

Speaker 1: 9:33

For for the remainder of of Passion Tide here, um, you know, traditionally in the church many of you probably heard a similar homily to this yesterday but traditionally we, um, we cover all sacred images throughout Passion Tide. But traditionally we cover all sacred images throughout Passion Tide. We do not have enough purple cloth here at home and every time I forget right, I forget Passion Tide's coming up and I am reminded on Passion Sunday in the only store we have anywhere near us that would have purple cloth is Hobby Lobby, which is closed on Sundays. So next year I have a resolution for myself for next year to get enough purple cloth to cover all our sacred images in our house, but traditionally so, sacred images are covered, at least in the church, throughout Passion Tide are covered at least in the church, throughout Passion Tide. You know we put veils over all sacred images. You know pictures, images of saints, statues, crucifixes, all that stuff.

Speaker 1: 10:43

And if you've listened to the channel, recently there's been a few videos where we actually discuss yesterday's gospel from mass, where Christ is more or less condemning the Pharisees in the temple, telling them that they're not the sons of Abraham, their father is the devil, and the Pharisees pick up stones to stone him. And we hear at the end of that gospel that as the Pharisees are trying to stone him, christ hides himself and leaves the temple. Now the fathers tell us that this hiding is supernatural. Christ more or less becomes invisible to the Pharisees, to those who don't truly see him for who he is, and is able to just walk out of the temple. And that is that. So, like I said, that is that so, like I said, that is that was yesterday's gospel and that is why at least one of the reasons why we, um, we veil sacred images, because Christ had to hide himself, um, from his own people to not be stoned.

Speaker 1: 12:12

Matter of fact, Dom Guérin-Jay, who wrote a 15-volume work on the liturgical year, had a great passage on it yesterday, had a great, great passage on it yesterday. So I'll just I'll read that, because this is very, very apropos to Passion Tide, which we are now in. So Dom Guernsey says, everything around us urges us to mourn. The images of the saints, the very crucifix on our altar, are veiled from our sight. The church is oppressed with grief. During the first four weeks of Lent, she compassionated her Jesus fasting in the desert. His coming, sufferings and crucifixion and death are what now fill her with anguish.

Speaker 1: 13:07

We read in today's gospel that the Jews threaten to stone the Son of God as a blasphemer. But His hour has not yet come. He is obliged to flee and hide Himself. It is to express this deep humiliation that the Church veils the cross. A God hiding Himself that he may evade the anger of men. What a mystery. Is it weakness? Is it that he fears death? No, we shall soon see him going out to meet his enemies, but at the present he hides himself from them because all that had been prophesied regarding him has not been fulfilled. Besides, his death is not to be by stoning. He is to die upon a cross, the tree of malediction which, from that time forward, is to be the tree of life.

Speaker 1: 14:03

So if you ever wonder why we veil sacred images for Passion Tide, there is your reason and let's keep that in mind here. As we move through Passion Tide, as we do our penances and our fasting, you know, as we look upon the veiled sacred images in our churches and in our homes, keep in mind that is because the church is mourning, is because the church is looking toward Christ's passion, which takes part at the end of next week. So let's double down on our fasting and our penance. Keep in mind that Nineveh was saved through it and whether or not our own nation and our own world are saved through fasting and penance, we can at least make sure that our own souls are. So let's finish off Lent strong and I hope you have a good Monday. Today. Tomorrow, tuesday in Passion Week, we will be talking about the world's hatred. So thank you all, have a good day and I'll see you tomorrow. Thank you.