For a patriotic Jew who lived during the time of the Old Testament, the book of the prophet Jonah would not be on the favourite list of books, neither would it be a must-read book.
The Ninevites, or the Assyrians, were Israel's most hated enemy. They were the ones who wiped out the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and continued to harass the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
And now a Jewish prophet was sent to this pagan nation to preach about destruction in 40 days' time.
If that patriotic Jew was reading the book for the first time, he would have expected that the Ninevites will ridicule the prophet and then torture him to death, and then that would flare up the anger of God and He would even hasten the time of their destruction.
But the twist and the shock would come about when the Ninevites, from the king to the animals, actually repented with fasting and penance and prayer even.
And God actually relented and He did not inflict on the Ninevites the disaster which He had threatened.
It is like saying that all those terrorists and killers will be forgiven and all the atrocities will be forgotten when they repent. That seems to be too easy and too lenient for them, isn't it.
Yet when we sin, we too would want God to forgive us and be merciful towards us especially when we have sinned gravely.
The Ninevites showed their repentance by taking their penance seriously. And Jesus, in the gospel said that that was the sign that the people of His time should heed.
We too, must heed that sign and we should be the ones who must show our repentance by seriously doing our penance.
The season of Lent is a time of grace where God's gift of forgiveness is given without measure.
May we with a humble and contrite heart heed the call to repentance and be a sign of God's mercy and compassion to the world.
The Ninevites, or the Assyrians, were Israel's most hated enemy. They were the ones who wiped out the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and continued to harass the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
And now a Jewish prophet was sent to this pagan nation to preach about destruction in 40 days' time.
If that patriotic Jew was reading the book for the first time, he would have expected that the Ninevites will ridicule the prophet and then torture him to death, and then that would flare up the anger of God and He would even hasten the time of their destruction.
But the twist and the shock would come about when the Ninevites, from the king to the animals, actually repented with fasting and penance and prayer even.
And God actually relented and He did not inflict on the Ninevites the disaster which He had threatened.
It is like saying that all those terrorists and killers will be forgiven and all the atrocities will be forgotten when they repent. That seems to be too easy and too lenient for them, isn't it.
Yet when we sin, we too would want God to forgive us and be merciful towards us especially when we have sinned gravely.
The Ninevites showed their repentance by taking their penance seriously. And Jesus, in the gospel said that that was the sign that the people of His time should heed.
We too, must heed that sign and we should be the ones who must show our repentance by seriously doing our penance.
The season of Lent is a time of grace where God's gift of forgiveness is given without measure.
May we with a humble and contrite heart heed the call to repentance and be a sign of God's mercy and compassion to the world.