It is easy to be judgmental, but hard to be understanding. It is easier to hold a grudge than to let it go. The prophet Jonah experienced this conflict in his gut. The first reading gives us only a glimpse of his extraordinary story. God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh to preach the need for repentance.
Nineveh was the last place Jonah wanted to go. The Ninevites were the enemy, the ungodly, and a people to be spurned. So rather than respond in obedience, Jonah boards a merchant ship and sails off for a distant country. It is laughable to think that Jonah could go anywhere where God is not. God was indeed present and pursued the runaway prophet, sending a violent storm to turn back the ship.
But Jonah was so determined to avoid Nineveh that rather than accept this sign, Jonah pleaded to be thrown overboard and the sailors obliged. We know what happened next—famously, he is swallowed by a great fish. He prays to be delivered and ends up onto the beach.
He finally obeys and preaches to Nineveh, a city of 120,000 inhabitants and to his great surprise, every one of them converted. By royal decree, even the cows and sheep were to wear sackcloth! This infuriated Jonah since he would have preferred and even enjoyed to see the city struck by fire and brimstone. But God would show that he is “a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.”
Jonah wanted to be a messenger of judgment but in the end became an agent of God’s mercy. God mercifully relented from the disastrous judgment he was going to bring down upon Nineveh. God’s way was not Jonah’s way.
God notices not only when we sin, but also when we repent. He cares and is merciful. What we do matters. God always sees and rejoices in our repentance.
The Ninevites had to convert but so did Jonah…and so do we. Jonah had to move from judging others to being merciful to others. He had to replace a vindictive heart with a compassionate heart. He had to move from resentment to forgiveness…and so do we. Listen to the way Fr. Henri Nouwen expresses this challenge.’
“We spend an enormous amount of energy making up our minds about other people. Not a day goes by without somebody doing or saying something that evokes in us the need to form an opinion about him or her. We hear a lot, see a lot, and know a lot. The feeling that we have to sort it all out in minds and make judgments about it can be quite oppressive. The desert fathers said that judging others is a heavy burden, while being judged by others is a light one. Once we can let go of our need to judge others, we will experience an immense inner freedom. Once we are free from judging, we will be also free for mercy. Let’s remember Jesus’ words, “Do not judge and you will not be judged….The measure with which you measure will be measured back to you.”
