27th Week in Ord. Time, Tuesday – 10th October 2023 – Jonah 3,1-10; Lk 10,38-42
Whole Hearted Response
In the first reading, Jonah reaches Nineveh and preaches to them. The people heard of Jonah’s announcement and decided to practice the traditional acts of penance (fasting, wearing sackcloth and sitting in ashes), and waited on the mercy of the Lord. When the king heard the message, he also made the fast official by issuing an edict to the people to turn from their evil ways. The entire population, from the king on the throne to the lowest peasant in the field were in action. God gave the people forty days of grace, but they didn’t need that long. The Ninevites fasting and praying, their humbling of themselves before God, sent a message to heaven. They hoped that God’s great compassion would move Him to change His plan and spare the city. At some point, God spoke to Jonah and told him that He had accepted the people’s repentance and would not destroy the city. Indeed, this was simply God’s response to man’s change of heart. If repentance and faith are the basic conditions of salvation (Acts 20,21), then we have the reason to believe that the Ninevites actions were accepted by God. The fact that Jesus used the Ninevites to shame the unbelieving Jews of his day is further evidence that their response to Jonah’s proclamation was sincere and whole hearted (Mt 12,38-41).
