We switch gears today in our first readings at our daily mass, going from the prophet Isaiah to the book of Jonah. Most modern Scripture scholars say that Jonah is not a historical figure, but he is certainly one of the most creative figures in the Old Testament. Whether Jonah is fiction or non-fiction is not the point. The point is, a lot of eternal truths in Jonah still speak out to us today in our modern world. Although the book of Jonah is listed among the list of minor prophets in the Old Testament, we can see it as an instructive, cautionary tale rather than prophecy. We see Paul and the Early Church reaching out to the Gentiles in the New Testament, while on the Gospels, we see Jesus reaching out to the oppressed and marginalized of society beyond the Jewish community. However, that was not the pervasive attitudes of the Jews in the Old Testament, as they saw salvation only for themselves and not the Gentiles. Jonah shows those harsh Jewish attitudes moving in the direction of reaching out to the Gentiles, of intending God’s compassion and mercy for all, not just the Jewish nation. Nineveh is described as a huge city, a place where all of its inhabitants were unbelievers in the one true God. While Jonah is charged to bring God’s mission to the people of Nineveh, it is our mission as well to bring Christ’s message to the world. Maybe we are not as overtly recalcitrant as Jonah in being messengers of God’s word, perhaps in reality we are equally disobedient and reluctant. It is hard sometimes when we are in fear to speak the truth, when we feel oppressed and silenced, and I think that is how all of us can feel from time to time. How can we connect with God’s will in our lives to bring the Gospel to others?
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