A CALL TO REPENTANCE


WEDNESDAY, FIRST WEEK OF LENT   

Jonah 3:1-10; Ps 51:3-4,12-13,18-19; Lk 11:29-32

The Sign of Jonah to Ninevites

Today’s readings are all about the Prophet Jonah. The story of Jonah is very interesting. It is about the people of Nineveh, whose manner of life evoked the justice of God. Because God is just in all his ways and in his dealings with us, He resolved to warn them of the destruction that their evil lifestyles were drawing upon them. God, therefore, called Jonah to carry his word or message to them, to ask them to change their life before the city is destroyed. The prophet, Jonah, like many of us, considered it a waste of time to go and preach to the Ninevites. He was mistaken in thinking like that because the will of God must be done. None of us can put aside the will of God for us and feel safe and comfortable. The will of God is the cause of everything in existence. The story of Jonah teaches us to employ ourselves daily, and in all things to fulfil the will of God, for the salvation of many depends on our cooperation with the divine will. God mercifully guided Jonah, who thought he could flee from God's presence to the shores of the great city of Nineveh, where he was to play the role God had assigned to him. Finding himself in Nineveh, Jonah carried out the mandate God gave to him.

The people of Nineveh responded positively to the message of the prophet Jonah and changed their evil ways. God, in his foreknowledge of all things, impelled Jonah to carry out his will because of this positive outcome from his preaching. This is not to say that God would refuse any necessary grace to a soul or a people on the evil path because He foreknows that they will not make use of the grace, for the mercy of God does not deny any necessary grace to any soul, even when he knows a soul would not make use of the grace. As we heard from Isa 55:10-11, the word of God comes down to accomplish the will of God without fail. The failure would be on the side of the soul that fails to cooperate with the grace of the word of God. The word of God presents both life and death to each of us, as stated in Deuteronomy 30:19; we choose life when we decide to cooperate with the grace of the word we hear, and death when we decide to disobey the word and reject the grace it offers us. But the Ninevites did respond to the proclamation of the word of God by Jonah. By listening and cooperating with the word of God they heard, the Ninevites chose life, which translates to repentance, mercy, and life from God. The people of Nineveh responded positively because they heard the voice of God in the voice of Jonah the prophet. He was a sacrament of God’s real presence to them.

Our Lord’s reference to the story of Jonah in the Gospel rests on this sacramental nature of Jonah to the people of Nineveh. He came forth from his three days sojourn in the belly of the fish to proclaim God’s message to the Ninevites.  Even though Jonah did not perform any other signs or miracles to authenticate his mission from God, the people accepted and believed his word and amended their lives. This is unlike the people in the time of our Lord, who heard his authoritative teachings, witnessed his signs and miracles, and still refused to believe the words proclaimed by the Son of Man and repent of their sins. This is the crux of our Lord’s rebuke of the people. “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.” The Lord made a similar reference to Solomon and the Queen of the South, who heard of Solomon and made every effort to come and listen to his wisdom. What makes these people signs is the grace of God attached to their words and actions. There is fullness of the grace of God in the words and actions of our Lord. We are invited to open our hearts and minds to his message of repentance this Lent. Our humble and contrite heart is the sacrifice that is pleasing to God.

Let us pray: Look kindly, Lord, we pray, on the devotion of your people, that those who by self-denial are restrained in body may by the fruit of good works be renewed in mind. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. 

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