Monday, October 3, 2011

10/4/2011 – Memorial of St Francis of Assisi – Homily for the 27th Tuesday of ordinary time – Jonah 3:1-10


          The tale of Jonah in the Old Testament is often thought of as a children's story complete with a whale & a great adventure.  Yet, the real message of the book of Jonah is a very adult one that gives us all an opportunity to stretch our understanding about God and his salvation. Today’s first reading tells of God's second call to Jonah and his less than enthusiastic response.
God tells Jonah "to go to Nineveh, the great city."  Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, the nation that had destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and that held the southern kingdom of Judah as a vassal state for almost one hundred years. Assyria was a brutal occupying force that forever changed Israel's future.  Jonah is called out by God to go and prophesy to the capital city of Israel’s enemy.  Thus, we can understand the strong reaction Jonah has, why he runs away from this calling.  Think if God asked one us to go to preach this message of repentance to the base camp of the Taliban or to the terrorists who have been pursuing us for the last decade in order to save them, to see them fast in sackcloth & ashes in response to this message, to see them ask God for forgiveness & to change their ways.  How rationally would one of us respond to such a request from God?
          We could berate and criticize Jonah for his little faith or lack of tenacity. However, it might be more helpful for us to identify with Jonah for a moment rather than to criticize him, to empathize with the  seemingly impossible mission to which God has called him.  With the tasks we are called to do in our modern world, we could consider Jonah a patron saint to whom we ask for intercessory prayers.  The message we receive from our modern secular world is that we cannot make a big difference in the world, that we might as well just fall in line and make the best living we can for ourselves & our family.  Our calling from God and our values may tell us we need to head East to Nineveh, but we all too often turn around & walk west and get on the boat with Jonah as a means of escape.  Perhaps we find it too difficult or too lonely to walk the way of our faith, to choose the path of faith over the ways of our secular world.  And by running away, perhaps we find ourselves in the belly of the whale, or out of touch with our calling from God, or very distant from a sense of meaning & purpose.
           Well, in the midst of hearing this story about Jonah, we celebrate the memorial day of St Francis of Assisi.  Though Francis was born way back in the late twelth century more than 800 years ago, the way Francis lived out the Gospel in his life, the way he voluntarily lived a life of poverty and saw God in nature and all of creation, has a great affect on us today.  Francis declared to the Lord his famous peace prayer, asking God to make him a channel of his peace, to sow love where there is hatred in the world.  One of the prisoners I visit in my prison ministry says he prays the words of that peace prayer each day, that he so easily wants to lash out in anger and hatred to the frustrations and struggles that experiences in prison, but he knows that God is calling him to respond with love and peace.  Yes, the message of Francis of Assisi means so much to us today in our modern world.  Yes, one person can really have a positive affect in the world in the way he responds, in the witness he gives to others.  May this be an example for us all. 

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