Optional Memorial of Saint John XXIII, pope

 

Lectionary: 463

Jonah prayed, "I beseech you, LORD,
is not this what I said while I was still in my own country?
This is why I fled at first to Tarshish.
I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God,
slow to anger, rich in clemency, loath to punish.
And now, LORD, please take my life from me;
for it is better for me to die than to live."
But the LORD asked, "Have you reason to be angry?"

Those who regard the Father of Jesus as the savage, unreasoning "Old Testament God" are not prepared for the image of God as a straight man. In classic comedy routines like Abbot and Costello, and Laurel and Hardy, the straight man feeds the funny man reasonable remarks and serious questions while the funny man replies like a fool or ignoramus with hilarious nonsense.

In the Book of Jonah, which biblicists regard with utter seriousness, Jonah is the funny man to the LORD's straight man, A prophet should go where he is told and repeat what he hears, but Jonah flees west to Tarshish (Spain) when he is told to go east to Nineveh. God's word is a warning of doom, and the Jew should be happy to deliver the word to his enemies, the Assyrians of Nineveh. But he also knows God is merciful and so he refuses to speak. He relents only after being thrown into a stormy sea, swallowed by a sea monster, and disgorged close to the city of Nineveh. Predictably, he is upset when the Ninevites repent and the Lord relents. Everyone is happy except the prophet. 

The brief story of Jonah lampoons the Jewish or Christian who refuses to take up the sacred duty of announcing God's mercy to the whole world. Ever since the Lord chose Abram from Ur of the Chaldees as his particular friend, his descendants have known the blessing he received: 

I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth will find blessing in you.

Our election was never about us. The blessings we enjoy and the punishment we suffer as God's beloved children demonstrate God's sovereign authority. Jonah's refusal to deliver the word to Nineveh contradicts his entire purpose in life. He is only a laughable fool. Even a biblicist must see that. 

In our post-Christian era, when millions of people either reject religion altogether or create new and bizarre forms of religion, Catholics take up the challenge of hearing, obeying, and announcing God's word. Even as our skeptical children ask for prayers, and society regards us as holy joes, we must pray. Our life style -- shunning abortion and promiscuity, paying our taxes and fulfilling civic duties, caring for the poor and attending and maintaining the Church, and so forth -- demonstrate God's goodness despite our weirdness to people around us. The deeper we grow in fidelity, the stranger our habits become to a world adrift in its frantic, hopeless search for meaning. 

We're continually tempted to fall into Jonah-like contempt for the world around us. Seeing the inevitable consequences of a secular society's bad choices, we would be judgmental and triumphalist. We would laugh at their suffering, saying "I told you so." 

But that is not our calling for we understand their fear of the truth and their desperate search for shortcuts. We understand that the Lord's yoke is not nearly as burdensome as life without the cross. We have found the unexpected delight of the narrow path. 

And finally, we understand that everyone must hear the truth within their hearts before they turn to Jesus. Saint Peter knew the Lord only after he heard the Father's voice. We cannot conquer by overcoming resistance; our persuasive arguments are useless until they hear the Holy Spirit whisper, "This is the way. Walk in it."