WEDNESDAY OF THE 1ST WEEK OF LENT - 2026

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Now, now – it is the Lord who speaks –
come back to me with all your heart,
for I am all tenderness and compassion. JOEL 2:12-13

JONAH 3:1-10

My Soul's Beloved, 

You are a God of new beginnings. In You, there is always hope. No matter how far we have sunk in the miry pit of sin, You will hear our cry of repentance, and You will come and save us. Thank You, Lord, that there is no sin so great that cannot be forgiven by Your atoning sacrifice on the Cross of shame. You took on Yourself all our iniquities and made reparation for all our sins, beginning with the sin of Adam to the last man before Your coming in glory. You died, my Lord, so we could live.

Jonah, the second time, was obedient to God's word and set out to preach repentance to the people of Nineveh, a pagan city. Although they did not know the true God, the king of Nineveh heard the preaching and the warning that the nation would be destroyed in 40 days, lest they repent. He believed and commanded that men and beasts alike should put on sackcloth and ashes, refrain from food and drink, and repent of all their sins. God relented and did not destroy that nation.

Lord, we are in the season of Lent. A season given to us by the Church to turn away from the world and its distractions, to deny the flesh, to pray constantly to withstand the wiles of the Enemy, to give alms to those in need, and to experience anew the joy of our salvation. My Lord, grant us the grace to persevere in our Lenten observances so we will be renewed, reinvigorated, and refreshed after these 40 days of withdrawal from the world, the flesh, and the devil that without ceasing clamors to take our attention away from You and from our ultimate goal, which is eternal life with You in the Kingdom of God.

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.

PSALM 50(51):3-4,12-13,18-19

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

Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.
In your compassion blot out my offence.
O wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.

A pure heart create for me, O God,
put a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
nor deprive me of your holy spirit.

For in sacrifice you take no delight,
burnt offering from me you would refuse,
my sacrifice, a contrite spirit.
A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.

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

LUKE 11:29-32

My Soul's Beloved, 

More than 2000 years ago You called that generation a wicked generation who kept asking for signs that God was present and alive among them. If they were wicked then, Lord, how great is the wickedness in our world today. Unprecedented evil has seeped its slimy and grimy way into every area of our lives. Nothing and no one is spared. The wicked prey on the innocent, and no one is spared. The whole world is now Sodom and Gomorrah, and the great chastisement of God is almost upon us. Just as the people in Noah's time were eating and drinking before the great flood wiped them off the face of the earth, so it will be for us if we fail to repent and turn from all our wickedness and come back to God.

There is no greater sign given to the world than the Sign of the Cross. It is the sign of our salvation, or our healing, of life. Those who ask for signs, ignoring the only sign that matters, will perish in their sins. We thank Holy Mother Church for this season in the year when we can reflect, reform, renew, and be born anew as we reflect on Your passion, Your death, and finally the glory of the resurrection. 

The Catholic Church is famous of drawing bigger and bigger crowds on particular feasts. They crawl out of the woodwork and then return to their unholy, passive, grey lives after the great outward show of coming for ashes and Holy Week services, or attending Church services at Christmas and Easter. Open the eyes of all, O Lord to recognize that the greatest sign is already given to us, there is no other, and let this be the hour and the moment of our repentance and return to You with all our hearts.

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.’

TUESDAY OF THE 1ST WEEK OF LENT - 2026

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. MT 4:4

ISAIAH 55:10-11

My Soul's Beloved, 

Thank You for confirming and reinforcing what You have already said to Me in Your Word today. You are a God who delights in giving Your children good gifts. Thank You for all Your promises and for Your assurances that the time for mourning and weeping is at an end. You have spoken, O Eternal Word of the Father. You have spoken words of healing, restoration, and provision, and Your Word always accomplishes what You want it to. 

All that we need, O Lord, You will provide. The whole earth and everything in it relies on You, and You, who look after the sparrows in the air and the lilies in the field, will most surely give all of us all we need in this life and eternal joy in Your Presence in the life to come.

Thus says the Lord: ‘As the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return without watering the earth, making it yield and giving growth to provide seed for the sower and bread for the eating, so the word that goes from my mouth does not return to me empty, without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it was sent to do.’

PSALM 33(34):4-7,16-19

The Lord rescues the just in all their distress.

Glorify the Lord with me.
Together let us praise his name.
I sought the Lord and he answered me;
from all my terrors he set me free.

Look towards him and be radiant;
let your faces not be abashed.
This poor man called, the Lord heard him
and rescued him from all his distress.

The Lord turns his face against the wicked
to destroy their remembrance from the earth.
The Lord turns his eyes to the just
and his ears to their appeal.

They call and the Lord hears
and rescues them in all their distress.
The Lord is close to the broken-hearted;
those whose spirit is crushed he will save.

The Lord rescues the just in all their distress.

MATTHEW 6:7-15

My Soul's Beloved, 

Thank You for Your loving assurance that our Father in heaven knows what we need even before we ask Him, and that He delights in His children approaching Him with confidence and making all that we need known to Him. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, what I desire most of all is the salvation of my children, and You and our Heavenly Father desire this with far greater intensity than I ever can. So I will pray, and I will not worry, but have this certainty, that in the end, Your hand and holy arm will save them from the jaws of hell and death and put them on the path of salvation and life.

Thank You, Lord, for teaching Your disciples how to pray in the Lord's Prayer. We begin by acknowledging that God, who is our Father, is God whose abode is in heaven. He is holy and perfect, and we must never for an instant forget that although He is our Abba, He is also God Almighty. It is He who created us in love and knows what we need far better than we do. Thank You for also revealing to us that unless we forgive from our hearts, we will not be forgiven. May we always have this confidence in Him that all that we ask for in Your Name He will give us.

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘In your prayers do not babble as the pagans do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard. Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need before you ask him. So you should pray like this:

‘Our Father in heaven,
may your name be held holy,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us.
And do not put us to the test,
but save us from the evil one.
‘Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours; but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failings either.’