27th Week in Ord. Time, Monday – 9th October 2023 – Jonah 1,1-2,11; Lk 10,25-37
Wrong Attitudes
In the first reading, God asked Jonah to preach a message of repentance to the people of Nineveh. Jonah is appalled at the idea of trying to convert them and does not want to go there. So, Jonah sets off westward, in the opposite direction, and boards a ship to get as far away as possible from both Nineveh and Yahweh – quite a futile thing to do. Jonah got into trouble because his attitudes were wrong. He had a wrong attitude toward the will of God. Obeying the will of God is very much important for God’s servant. It’s in obeying the will of God that we find our spiritual nourishment (Jn 4,34), enlightenment (Jn 7,17) and enablement (Heb 13,21). To Jesus, the will of God was food that satisfied Him. To Jonah, the will of God was medicine that choked him. Jonah’s wrong attitude toward God’s will stemmed from a feeling that the Lord was asking him to do an impossible thing. He forgot that the will of God is the expression of the Love of God (Ps 33,1), and that God called him to Nineveh because he loved both Jonah and the Ninevites. He also had a wrong attitude toward the Word of God. Because he thought he could “take it or leave it.” However, God’s word commands us to listen and obey; disobedience isn’t an option. He had a wrong attitude toward circumstances; he thought they were working for him when they were really working against him. Jonah forgot that it was a great privilege to be a prophet, to hear God’s word, and know God’s will. He forgot that “God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable” (Rom 11,29).
