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THE PROPHET OF GOD COMES TO US IN HUMAN
LOWLINESS
Readings at Mass
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First reading
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Jonah 3:1-10 ©
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The word of the Lord
was addressed a second time to Jonah: ‘Up!’ he said ‘Go to Nineveh, the great
city, and preach to them as I told you to.’ Jonah set out and went to Nineveh
in obedience to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was a city great beyond
compare: it took three days to cross it. Jonah went on into the city, making a day’s
journey. He preached in these words, ‘Only forty days more and Nineveh is going
to be destroyed.’ And the people of Nineveh believed in God; they proclaimed a
fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least. The news reached the
king of Nineveh, who rose from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth
and sat down in ashes. A proclamation was then promulgated throughout Nineveh,
by decree of the king and his ministers, as follows: ‘Men and beasts, herds and
flocks, are to taste nothing; they must not eat, they must not drink water. All
are to put on sackcloth and call on God with all their might; and let everyone
renounce his evil behaviour and the wicked things he has done. Who knows if God
will not change his mind and relent, if he will not renounce his burning wrath,
so that we do not perish?’ God saw their efforts to renounce their evil
behaviour, and God relented: he did not inflict on them the disaster which he
had threatened.
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Psalm
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Psalm
50:3-4,12-13,18-19 ©
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A humbled,
contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn.
Have mercy on me,
God, in your kindness.
In your
compassion blot out my offence.
O wash me more and
more from my guilt
and
cleanse me from my sin.
A humbled,
contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn.
A pure heart create
for me, O God,
put a
steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away
from your presence,
nor
deprive me of your holy spirit.
A humbled,
contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn.
For in sacrifice you
take no delight,
burnt
offering from me you would refuse,
my sacrifice, a
contrite spirit.
A
humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.
A humbled,
contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Ezk33:11
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Glory and praise to
you, O Christ!
I take pleasure, not
in the death of a wicked man
– it is the Lord who
speaks –
but in the turning
back of a wicked man
who changes his ways
to win life.
Glory and praise to
you, O Christ!
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Or
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Joel2:12-13
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Glory and praise to
you, O Christ!
Now, now – it is
the Lord who speaks –
come back to me with
all your heart,
for I am all
tenderness and compassion.
Glory and praise to
you, O Christ!
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Gospel
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Luke 11:29-32 ©
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The
crowds got even bigger and Jesus addressed them, ‘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. On Judgement day the Queen of the South will rise up with the
men of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the
earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than
Solomon here. On Judgement day the men of Nineveh will stand up with this
generation and condemn it, because when Jonah preached they repented; and there
is something greater than Jonah here.’
THE
PROPHET OF GOD COMES TO US IN HUMAN LOWLINESS
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: JONAH 3:1-10; LK 11:29-32
Today’s
gospel offers us access into the feelings of Jesus with regard to His
ministry. We can sense His frustration with His own people. He
appears to have been confronted with failure and rejection in His ministry.
It must have been a painful experience for Him. He came to His own, but
His own did not accept Him. He came with the message of God’s
unconditional love, but the people were skeptical of His message. They even
demanded for a sign so that they could believe Him, in spite of the many signs
He showed in His works of healing and exorcism. They were too blind or
simply refused to see.
Such a
negative response is heart-breaking when we read of Jesus comparing Himself
with the prophets Jonah and King Solomon. These two personalities in
Israel’s history appear to have had greater success in their ministry than
Jesus. Take the case of Jonah. In the first place, Jonah was a
reluctant prophet who was called by God to preach the Word, whereas Jesus
assumed the role of the eschatological prophet willingly, in obedience to
His Father’s call. One would expect therefore that Jesus, being a willing
prophet, would have had more success in His ministry. But the fact is
that He was an apparent failure.
Indeed,
Jonah’s success seems to have been quite spectacular. We are told
that the people of Nineveh, and even the king himself, repented quickly the
moment they heard the warning of Jonah. And all this happened within a
single day in this big city. So great was his success that even Jonah himself
was baffled. But here was Jesus, the eschatological prophet of God,
preaching for three years, without much success. On the contrary, the
more He preached, the more enemies He made. Compared to Jonah, Jesus’
mission seems to have fared badly.
Likewise, compared to
King Solomon, Jesus also seems to have been a failure. Scriptures tell us that Solomon’s
fame and influence was so great it extended beyond the frontiers of his
country. Even non-Israelites, like the Queen of Sheba, travelled from the
ends of the earth just to hear his wisdom and admire his success. But
here we have Jesus, the Wisdom of God in person, right before them, supposedly
greater than Solomon and therefore incomparable, yet His own fellow Jews,
who were so steep in the Word of God, could not even recognize Him as
the Wisdom of God. They would not listen to Him. Indeed, the non-Israelites
responded more readily to Jonah and Solomon than did the Jews to Jesus, who was
one of them.
So, was Jesus really a
failure in His mission?
Conversely, were Jonah and Solomon as successful in their missions as it
appears? Perhaps, on the surface, it would appear that Jesus was a
failure, whereas Jonah and Solomon were successful. But in actual fact,
this was not necessarily the case. Why do I say this?
Noteworthy was that the
people of Nineveh repented not because they loved God, but because they
wanted to save their own skins. It was the threat of imminent punishment
and destruction that caused the King and his people to begin fasting, doing
penance and changing their way of life. The question is: would
repentance that spring out of fear last for long? Isn’t it true that
when such threat is over, one gets back to one’s old ways very quickly?
This is the normal attitude of people, particularly when it comes to religious
or spiritual conversion.
What about Solomon? How successful in reality was
his mission? The book of Kings (1 Kg 10) said that the Queen of Sheba was
very impressed, not simply at the wisdom of Solomon, but also at the grandeur
of the court and his palace. In other words, many other factors won the
Queen over. She was overwhelmed by Solomon’s grandeur and prosperity as
well. The truth once again is that when people are impressed by
externals, such conversions will also not last. If people are
attracted to us because we are rich and powerful, beautiful or talented, the
day we lose it all, that will be the day when they too would no longer care to
associate with us, much less know us. Consequently, we must say that the
conversions of both Nineveh and that of Sheba were short-lived and therefore
cannot be considered as really successful.
Jesus’ way of reaching
out, however, was
totally different from that of Jonah and Solomon. Jesus did not use fear to
change people; nor did He use His powers to put up a spectacular display to
impress people. No, the approach of Jesus in bringing about the
message of God’s unconditional love for His people was through humility and
love. Jesus appeared among His people like one of them. In
human lowliness, in His works and words of love and compassion, He tried to win
over the hearts of these people. He knew that real conversion only
happens when people are transformed from within and not simply from
without. That is why although Jesus might have suffered initial failure in His
ministry, His way of manifesting the love of God succeeded in the end.
What can we learn then from
today’s scripture readings? Firstly, the prophet of God comes in human
lowliness, not always in big ways like the prophets of old. He would
probably be someone who lives in our midst, someone whom we see every
day. He could be one of our own family members, or colleague at
work. It would be through them that God speaks to us, inviting us to
conversion, and helping us to experience His love.
During this season of Lent,
we must be careful not to fall into the same trap as the Ninevites, the
Queen of Sheba, or the Jews. We must not wait for conversion to take place
in our lives only because we realize the impending consequences of our sins; or
be easily impressed by big Lenten projects, such as engaging in elaborate
charity projects, 40-day fasting, or even special retreats. All these are
certainly good and commendable, but we cannot wait for such things occasions
before we decide to change our life.
Yes, we need not go very
far to seek the message and wisdom of God. The prophet of God is right
before our eyes. We must be more alert to His prophets living in our
midst. The prophet of God is one who manifests to us the truth about
ourselves and the truth about the God of love and compassion. When we
take them seriously, we will come to experience true freedom and liberation,
for in them we come to know ourselves and God.
Secondly, we must recognize
that conversion is not a quick-fix. People need time to
convert. Good Catholics do not come alive only in Lent, and return to
their old way of life once Lent is over. We are not robots or computers,
where everything can be programmed and changed at will and with ease. No! We
are human beings with hearts, feelings and emotions. Conversion is not a
one-time affair or something that can only happen in Lent, but it is an ongoing
process. The whole year is one of Lent and Easter. Once we
recognize this, then we will not be so impatient with ourselves or be
unrealistic in our growth.
In the final analysis,
through this Lenten Program, we must invite the Lord to open the eyes of our
minds and hearts to see our poverty and sinfulness so that we can repent
because we have hurt the Lord who loves us and our brothers and sisters so
much. We can be confident that the Lord is waiting to forgive us as the
psalmist shared with us. “For you are not pleased with sacrifices; should
I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it. My sacrifice, O God, is a
contrite spirit; a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not
spurn.” True conversion of heart can only come from sincere repentance.
It is such a contrite heart that we must pray for as we continue with our
Lenten journey to new life.
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV
WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP
OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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