Surprisingly, Jonah was angry
that God withdrew his punishment for Nineveh. He wanted those people to die for
their sins. The desire of the righteous should be the conversion of sinners,
but never to entertain a secret joy at the downfall of anyone. And the measure
of our holiness is not by contrasting it with the sinfulness of others.
Though Jonah knew God to be
gracious and merciful, he secretly wished that God would not forgive the people
of Nineveh. He had to learn another lesson that, not only is God omnipresent,
he is equally rich in mercy to all who call Him. God caused the tree that was
giving Jonah shed to wither such that the sun scotched him. Again, Jonah was
very angry. But the Lord said to him, “You pity the plant, for which you did
not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in the night, and
perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, the great city, in which
there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their
right from their left, and also much cattle?”
So, the Lord considered Nineveh
as the work of His hands, His ignorant children. He inclined a fatherly heart
towards them, even to His wayward children. This fatherly disposition of God
towards us is an effective starting point of prayer and petition. In contrition
we realize we are mere ignorant children of our heavenly Father, and we look up
to Him in prayer that His fatherly heart may favor us. That is why in teaching
His disciples to pray Jesus taught them to pray thus: “Father, hallowed be thy
name. Thy Kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread; and forgive us our
sins, for we ourselves forgive every one who is indebted to us; and lead us not
into temptation.” Amen.
St Bruno, pray for us. Amen.
Fr
Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints
Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo,
Ojo, Lagos.
Wednesday
October 6th, 2021.
www.soundofsilence.ng
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com
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