20200309 TRAGEDY OF THE UNCONVERTED CONVERTS
09 March, 2022, Wednesday, 1st Week of Lent
First reading | Jonah 3:1-10 © |
The Ninevites repent, and God spares them
The word of the Lord was addressed 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.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 50(51):3-4,12-13,18-19 © |
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.
Gospel Acclamation | Ezk33:11 |
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!
Or: | Joel2:12-13 |
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!
Gospel | Luke 11:29-32 © |
As Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be a sign
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.’
TRAGEDY OF THE UNCONVERTED CONVERTS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Jonah 3:1-10; Ps 51:3-4,12-13,18-19; Luke 11:29-32]
In the gospel today, the crowds asked Jesus for a sign. This is ironical and inexplicable when Jesus had already performed many signs. He had multiplied five loaves to feed five thousand. He had cast out evil spirits. He had healed many who were sick. Yet, they still asked for a sign. What was the reply of our Lord? “This is a wicked generation; it is asking for a sign. The only sign it will be given is the sign of Jonah.” Why the sign of Jonah?
It is therefore important for us to understand the story of Jonah. He was a staunch Jew and a believer. He hated the pagans, the Ninevites. They were their enemies. They were cruel and merciless. He hoped that the people and the nation would be destroyed. And so, when He knew that God was intending to inflict punishment on the people, he was quietly happy that at last, their enemies would be eliminated. Alas! God sent him to give them a chance to repent of their sins so as to avert destruction. Jonah knew God’s mercy and compassion. He knew very well that if he were to preach the message of repentance, they would be converted. And so, he ran away by taking a ship that went to Tarshish, just the opposite direction of Nineveh. He did not desire the conversion of the people but only that they be destroyed completely.
But God did not give up hope on Jonah to change his mind or the people of Nineveh. There was a mighty storm threatening to break up the ship until they threw Jonah out of the ship when they discovered that he was the cause of the storm as he was running away from the presence of the Lord. Jonah was rescued by a large fish and was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. After that horrifying experience, he obediently carried out the instructions of the Lord when the Lord addressed him a second time. “Up! Go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach to them as I told you to.” The point of this story is that the Good News of God is not just addressed to the Israelites or the Jews. The gospel is given to all even to the pagans. This was why the Lord sent Jonah to the Ninevites. In the gospel too, Jesus also underscored this fact when He mentioned how the Queen of the South recognized that King Solomon was granted the wisdom of God.
However, the message of Jonah’s story is not just that God loves us all and is merciful to all, regardless of our race, culture or religion. It reveals to us that often those of us who are so-called believers in God or Christians, have less faith than the pagans! It is an irony that non-Israelites and non-Jews are more responsive to God’s word and to our Lord than the Israelites or Jews themselves. No wonder in the gospel, the Lord said, “Prophets are not without honour, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” (Mk 6:4) Even those pagans on the ship were more reverential to the God of Israel than Jonah himself. When they heard that Jonah was the cause of their misfortune, “they cried out to the Lord, ‘Please, O Lord, we pray, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life. Do not make us guilty of innocent blood; for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.’ So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord even more, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.” (Jonah 1:14-16)
In the case of the Ninevites, when they heard Jonah preach, “Only forty days more and Nineveh is going to be destroyed”, “the people of Nineveh believed in God; they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least.” In other words, the entire people in Nineveh repented wholeheartedly of their sins and the wicked deeds they committed. Even the King was inspired by the people. He “rose from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth and sat down in ashes.” They all took the divine warning seriously and placed their faith in God. To demonstrate their sincerity, everyone, even “men and beasts, herds and flocks” were to taste nothing or eat or drink water. It was a collective penance.
The Ninevites had confidence in God’s mercy. The decree says, “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?” True enough, “God saw their efforts to renounce their evil behaviour. And God relented: he did not inflict on them the disaster which he threatened.” As the response to the responsorial psalm reiterates, “A humbled, contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn.” So long as we are sincere and sorry, the Lord is ever ready to forgive us.
Unfortunately, those of us who are supposedly believers in God and in Christ, lack contrition in our lives. Like the Jews in today’s gospel, we are not so receptive to the Word of God that is preached to us. Indeed, it is much more difficult to preach conversion to the supposedly converted than to the unconverted. Non-believers and non-Christians are more receptive to the gospel than those who are already baptized. This was what the Lord said to His fellow Jews who asked for a sign. “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.”
Why is this so? Like the Jews we have become complacent. We have taken our faith for granted. We think that just because we are baptized, we are saved. Notionally, we believe that God will save us regardless of our sins. He will forgive us. So much so we have become ignorant of our faith. We do not take the trouble to grow in understanding of our faith or read the scripture regularly. This is true of many converts or cradle Catholics. After baptism, they no longer keep up with their faith or make time to grow spiritually or intellectually in their faith.
The second reason is that we have become self-righteous. This is particularly so for those who are apparently active in Church. We think that just because we attend mass regularly, read the bible daily and even attend courses in scripture and theology, we know everything. We despise those who are not so active like us. But pride has made us arrogant. We no longer listen to the Word of God when others preach or share with us. We think we know better. It appears that the call to conversion is directed at others but not to us because we are supposedly good and active Catholics. We do not need conversion because there is nothing wrong with us.
However, Pope Francis reminds us that conversion is for everyone. He is not just speaking of moral conversion but pastoral and missionary conversion of everyone, including the hierarchy of the Church. The Church cannot be renewed unless we are open to a constant self-renewal born of fidelity to Jesus Christ. This calls for a renewal of structures demanded by pastoral conversion. But again, as St John Paul II reminds us in his apostolic letter, all pastoral initiatives must be set in relation to the call to holiness. He warns, “Let us have no illusions: unless we follow this spiritual path, external structures of communion will serve very little purpose. They would become mechanisms without a soul, ‘masks’ of communion rather than its means of expression and growth.” (Novo Millennio Ineunte, 43)
Consequently, today, let us take heed of the call to conversion and repentance. Let us imitate the Ninevites and those catechumens who are going to be baptized at Easter and who are now journeying with us. We see that many of them are so receptive to the gospel even though they are new to the faith. Their knowledge of the faith might be still that of a novice but their faith in God is deep. They sincerely seek conversion and to live the life of Christ. They have taken the risk and the courage to accept Christ and baptism even though it comes at a price for some whose loved ones may not agree to their conversion. We pray for humility of heart so that we can hear the gospel anew, listening with attentive ears and a docile heart, so that once again, we are moved to repentance and begin the journey to holiness of life in Christ.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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