My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, may the Lord give you peace on this Wednesday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time. In today’s readings, we once again encounter the figure of Jonah, who is angry at God. He is angry because he did not want Nineveh to be spared. Nineveh was lost in its sin, illusions, and false gods, and Jonah wanted God to rain down justice upon it—not mercy.
That is why, as we read in Jonah’s own words, he initially went the opposite way of Nineveh when God asked him to go and preach repentance. He headed off to Tarshish. Yet we know that God allowed Jonah to rebel against His command, only to send a big fish to bring him back. The fish carried him to the shores of Nineveh and spat him out there.
Jonah reluctantly preached conversion to the people. I sometimes wonder if the king, upon seeing Jonah’s reluctance to see them saved, was even more motivated to repent. Perhaps Jonah’s hesitation made his message seem like a challenge: “I don’t think you deserve this, but here it is because my Master has commanded me to deliver it.” And yet—they repented.
When Jonah saw this, he cried out, “This is why I fled to Tarshish at first. I knew that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, rich in clemency, loath to punish. And now, Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
But the Lord asked him, “Have you reason to be angry?” Jonah replied, “I have reason to be angry, angry enough to die.” Then the Lord said, “You are concerned over the plant which cost you no labour and which you did not raise. It came up in one night and perished in one night. And should I not be concerned over Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who cannot distinguish their right hand from their left—not to mention the many cattle?”
In other words, how often do we wish that God would obliterate from the face of the earth certain groups of people—the terrorists, those who commit crimes against humanity, those who deceive others for their own gain, or those who cause great suffering in the world? Sometimes, it could even be members of our own families, co-workers, or friends who have ruptured their relationship with us.
This spirit seeps into all of us. Instead of calling out for God’s mercy and rejoicing when He extends it to someone who turns their life around, we sometimes prefer that they remain indifferent so they might experience God’s wrath.
But, my brothers and sisters, we must be careful what we wish for, because as the Lord teaches us in today’s Gospel: “Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.” In other words, if we do not wish mercy for others, how can we claim it for ourselves?
Once again, the Lord is calling us to live mercifully—to look at others with compassion when they have lost their way, to grieve over the state of those consumed by the trivial things of this world, and to pray for them. Pray for all: for our governments, for those who serve others—police, doctors, lawyers—and for all engaged in works of service.
May we remain united: united in faith, united as followers of Jesus, keeping our gaze fixed on Him and doing whatever He tells us, come what may. Because sometimes, the Lord must send a whale—a big fish—into our lives to shake us up and bring us back to the right road.
May we see His will, discern it, live it, and ultimately come to love His will as Jesus did on the Cross—extending God’s mercy to all and reconciling God with humanity.
May God bless you this day, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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