In every age, God calls His people to awaken.

We are living in a time when confusion spreads, when sin is normalized, and when many hearts have grown distant from the truth. The noise of the world grows louder, yet the voice of God is often ignored. But the Lord does not abandon His people.

He calls. He warns. He invites.

The call is the same as it was in the days of Nineveh: repent, and return to the Lord.

Sacred Scripture reminds us:

“Be converted to me with all your heart, in fasting, and in weeping, and in mourning” (Joel 2:12).

This is not a call meant for others. It is a call for each one of us. We must examine our own hearts. We must turn away from sin. We must seek God again with sincerity and humility.

The wounds in our world – violence, corruption, the loss of innocence, the rejection of truth – are not healed by human solutions alone. They are healed when hearts return to God.

This is why we fast. This is why we pray.

The Nineveh Fast is not merely a practice. It is a plea – a cry rising from the faithful, asking God for mercy.

When the people of Nineveh humbled themselves, God saw their repentance and withheld the punishment that justice required. That same mercy is still offered today. But it must be sought.

On this day of fasting, I invite you to enter deeply into prayer. Offer your sacrifices with love. Unite them to the Heart of Jesus, who still suffers for the sins of the world.

Ask for mercy – for your own soul.

Ask for mercy – for the Church.

Ask for mercy – for our nation and for all nations.

God hears the cry of a repentant people.

May He look upon our fasting and prayer with compassion.

May He purify what has been corrupted.

May He restore what has been wounded.

And may He grant us the grace of true conversion.

Let us not delay.

Now is the time to return to the Lord.

Bishop Joseph E. Strickland