GREATER THAN JONAH

Jonah 3:1-10. Lk 11:29-32, 1 March 2023, First Week of Lent

Both the readings of the day are centered on the name ‘Jonah’ which in Hebrew means ‘dove.’ Many Rabbis consider Jonah rather as a part of Midrashic literature than of prophetic literature. For, according to them, the Book of Jonah is presents a metaphor of the people of Israel. The Book of Jonah revolves around three persons: the people of Nineveh, God, and Jonah. At the beginning of the book, the people of Nineveh are sinful, God is angry, and Jonah is reluctant. At the end of the book, all the three undergo conversion: Nineveh repents, God relents, and Jonah retorts.

Nineveh was the capital of Assyria. Assyrians had captured the people of Israel in the Northern Kingdom in 723-722 BCE. Later the people of Israel developed a strong antipathy towards this enemy nation, and they wanted it to be destroyed. Jonah in fact presents a racist and angry face of such people. But God’s ways are different. Instead of punishing the Assyrians God becomes merciful to them. The people of Israel learn three things from this scenario: (i) It is not anger that heals but mercy; in fact, they begin to be merciful to foreign and enemy nations; (ii) God’s ways are his ways and we can’t question them; and (iii) In the world the evil is not always repaid.

In the gospel reading to his contemporaries, who were seeking a sign, Jesus offers them the signs of Solomon and Jonah. Solomon was considered the wisest person of the Judaic history. Jonah was considered a powerful preacher. As Jesus is the wisdom of God, he becomes greater than Solomon. And as he went about not only preaching, but also healing, he becomes greater than Jonah.

But unlike the queen of Sheba and the people of Nineveh, the contemporaries of Jesus refuse to believe in him. Jesus is greater than Jonah. The implication is that he demands greater conversion.

Thanks : Fr. Yesu K

The value and Meaning of Fasting (Mt 9:14-15)

The First reading and Gospel focus on the value of Fasting, which is one of the three penitential practices that are very dear to the biblical and Christian tradition – prayer, almsgiving, and fasting. I focus my reflections on the value and meaning of fasting through today's readings. 

1. Fasting helps to build self-control: Fasting becomes useless if it is more centered on oneself. God asks the people who do fasting not to worry what others see. 

2. Fasting is a great help to avoid sin and all that leads to it. In the Book of Genesis, we read the first commandment which is: “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die” (Gn 2, 16-17).  ‘You shall not eat’ is a law of fasting and abstinence”. Through fasting, we become humble before God. 

Fasting is an aid to open our eyes to the situation in which so many of our brothers and sisters live in poor situation. The fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own.

3. Fasting is a good ascetic practice, an instrument to battle against every possible disordered attachment to ourselves. Freely chosen detachment from the pleasure of food and other material goods helps the disciple of Christ to control the appetites of nature, weakened by original sin, whose negative effects impact the entire human person.

4. Fasting should help you to consider Jesus as a real bridegroom of your life and keep relationship with God. Wedding guests will rejoice when their bridegroom is with them. I am thinking especially of a greater commitment to prayer, lectio divina, recourse to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and active participation in the Eucharist, especially the Holy Sunday Mass. 

Father's faith heals the son (Mk 9:14-29)

Mk 9:14-29

The Jewish family is a Patriarchal family. In every Family, the role of the father is very important, more than that of the mother. The mothers care about the growth of the child within the family, whereas fathers care about his contact with the world, work and his social relationships. He connects the child with society. The father makes the decisions for the family for his wife and children. Today's Gospel of Mark beautifully narrates the sacrificial father's requests to Jesus for healing. 

Just imagine yourself: There is a son possessed by the spirit, epileptic in front of a large crowd. This is a kind of social shame and humiliation for the father, because who will marry an epileptic child? How he will go to work to earn? In this case, a father will suffer more than a mother. That is why Jesus asked a particular question “How long has this been happening to him?” not only out of care for the possessed boy, but he wanted to know how long the father has been suffering for his child. The father replied, “Since childhood." 

1. Father's care and responsibility for his child include the capacity to suffer for him. That's what Jesus did. This story is introduced in the Gospel of Mark when the Messianic secret is revealed. Hereafter Jesus will predict his death and resurrection three times. Jesus will start to suffer for humanity. Jesus looks at this figure as his own image of carrying the sins of humanity until his death on the cross. We need to pray like this; God, Father, help us to follow the example of your son's patience in suffering. 

2. The disciples have been presented in the Gospel of Mark, are the persons of failure until the resurrection. The Father brought his son first to the disciples to drive it out, but they were unable to do so. It is good for us to direct our prayers and problems to the right person, Jesus himself. Sometimes, we need to know if the people  have the spirit of God. We cannot go to the persons who say that they are problem solvers, healers, and are well prepared, and still are not so. Disciples were not yet prepared until they experience the passion and death of Jesus. The Father shouted to Jesus, “I do believe, help my unbelief!” constantly doing this we revise our human pride. 

3. Prayer is the “intimate” dialogue with God. Saint John Paul II affirmed that “Prayer always brings with it a type of interior hiddenness with Christ in God. Only in this hiddenness do we see the work of the Holy Spirit.” Prayer will increase our faith in Jesus, and Faith will make miracles.