Wednesday of First Week of Lent

March 12, 2003

This theme for the first week of Lent: a call to repentance, to conversion, to embracing the will of God as our own, is echoed again in the readings today. We have spoken about the response of people to Jesus. Many were moved by His words, while others were hardened in pride or arrogance. He was either loved or hated but he certainly was not lukewarm. In fact Jesus says that is why I will condemn you. Would that you were either hot or cold, but because you are lukewarm, I vomit you out of my mouth.

That is hardly a pleasant thought. Today, on the other hand, we find the reluctant preacher, Jonah, who spent a great deal of time attempting to avoid God's command to preach repentance to the people of Nineveh . After a11, why would God want me to have anything to do with these foreigners, non‑believers, pagans, and idolaters? Surely I am much better, and much holier than they are. Would God want me soiled or contaminated?

2,000 years into the Christian era we too tend to look upon others as less holy, less worthy than ourselves. Often Christians find themselves at odds, even hatred, of other Christians over fine points of doctrine, ritual, or morality. The message of the scriptures is as relevant today as it was for Jonah.

In an earlier part of the story, not read today; we are told that Jonah ended up three days in the belly of a very large fish until surrendering to God patient but persistent prodding. But once convinced, he became a dynamic and convincing preacher. Only one third of the way into his mission, the hearts of every inhabitant, from ruler to child, all repent of their evil deeds and God is moved with mercy rather than destruction.

Of course everything in this story is not fact. It is not history but a story to teach a lesson. It is an exaggeration--from the size of the fish to the size of the city; from the attempts of Jonah to flee God's will to the instant acknowledgement of Jonah's God by the sailors and the people of Nineveh .

What is at the core of the issue here is that it was not the holiness of the preacher, but rather, the response from the heart of the people to God's grace that brought renewal to this community. Today the Church is in crisis. Many preachers have abandoned their relationship with God or their burning desire to proclaim God's life within. There are many, many Jonahs.

But see what happened to Jonah, his conversion was a result of the repentant attitude of the people. He was converted because of them, not them because of his preaching. Again, this could not be truer today. If you want good, holy priests, committed ministers of God, the word of God calls you to be an example.

All of us, those ordained to Holy Orders, and those in the priesthood of the baptized, make up the Body of Christ, the Church of Christ, and are called to be a mutual support to one another‑‑as well as a practical and important revelation of God's mercy to a puzzled and uneasy world. A revelation which becomes convincing to others only to the degree in which we are willing to suffer for it, take risks, and give it priority over our own self‑will.

So the next time you hear a TV comedian or a neighborhood know it all making jokes about Catholic guilt trips and fire escapes and the furnace, simply acknowledge that sin is real and has real consequences; but they will melt away in the grace of contrition, repentance, and confession. No sin is beyond the loving touch of God.