Homily for February 21, 2018.
““Yet
forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”And the people of Nineveh believed
God; they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to
the least of them. Then tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from
his throne, removed his robe, and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in
ashes.” Jonah 3:4-6
The entire
book of Jonah is for me a story of God’s unending faith in humanity; the fact
that God does not give up on the creature he made; the fact that God is ever
ready to give us a second chance again and again.
God could have
simply destroyed the Nenivites but he gave them a second chance by sending
Jonah to them. Jonah himself tried to escape from God but God caught him,
brought him back and gave him another chance. Jonah wasn’t even qualified as a
messenger of God yet this irresponsible-runaway-preacher became instrumental to
the salvation of an entire city.
It beats
my mind that Jonah didn’t even ask them to repent. He didn’t say “change your
evil ways. Be good children of God. Stop sinning, etc.” Jonah just went about
the city announcing doom and destruction. It was a hopeless situation for the
people but they refused to resign themselves to FATE. They instinctively knew
that despite whatever their past had been, what matters to God is “right now.” They
heard the message of doom but believed in their hearts that there was still
hope.
Dear
friends, what is it about your spiritual life that makes you conclude you can
no longer make heaven? Could it be an addiction that you have struggled with
for the greater part of your life such that you have reached a negative
conclusion that your situation is hopeless? Let the people of Nineveh inspire
you today. It is never too late to change. It is never too late to start
working on your bad habits.
Outwardly things
may seem hopeless but then, they are mere appearances. Do not make judgements
based on appearances (signs), do not conclude about yourself based on what you
see now. Develop a new vision for yourself. Call yourself a Saint and start
working on yourself, begin to make efforts, do something about that which you
do not like about you, ask for help, open the roof of houses like the four men
who brought their paralytic to Jesus, talk to someone today as to how to come
out of your spiritual captivity. You see, the point is: God wants to see the
efforts you are making.
To the
people of Israel, Jesus appeared like an ordinary man; a simple son of a
carpenter; a young man who grew up in their eyes; a man who eats and drinks
freely even with those condemned as sinners by society. The signs (appearances)
available to them did not indicate Jesus was truly a Messiah. So, they asked
for more signs, they asked for some appearances.
By the way,
it wasn’t as if Jesus did not provide signs of his Divinity, the people in question
simply chose focus on those signs of his Humanity; those signs that only their
physical eyes could carry. They lacked the faith to go beyond surface appearances.
They couldn’t see that Jesus was greater than Solomon; they lacked the attitude
of the Ninevites who believed Jonah without judging him and took his voice to
be God’s voice.
At times,
like these people, we judge ourselves based on surface appearances; we consider
ourselves good for nothing because of what our physical eyes can carry. We lack
faith to realize that we have God inside us; that we are capable of much more
than we think. We see the son-of-a-carpenter in ourselves but we don’t believe
in the Saint we could be. Never judge a book by its cover. Never conclude about
yourself based on your past; don’t give up on yourself, keep believing, keep
being positive; keep making efforts.
Let us
Pray: Lord Jesus, change me completely from inside out. May I never give up on
myself but continue everyday to grow in spirit. Amen.
Be happy,
live positive, it is well with you. Wednesday of the First Week of Lent. Bible Study: Jonah 3:1-10 and Luke 11:29-32.
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