Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Do we really want people to be saved?
Sure, we pray for those who don’t believe, and maybe we even do and say things to help people meet Jesus. But do we really want them to be saved?
The story of Jonah issues a challenge if we let it. Because, whether from VeggieTales or from the Bible itself, we all think we are familiar with his story, but we likely forget the less comfortable part which comes after the section we hear in the First Reading. We know all about the beginning, God calling Jonah to preach repentance to the sinful Ninevites and refusing, thinking he can outrun God. We surely know about the middle, the Whale swallowing him, a kind of cetacean time-out so Jonah can think about what he’s done. Then finally, we think we know the end, that Jonah finally comes around, preaches to the Ninevites, they convert, and God doesn’t destroy them.
But that isn’t the end.
After the scene we see in our first reading today, Jonah shows that he never really got the point. Instead of rejoicing at the Ninevites coming to know God and turning from evil, the very thing he was sent by God to tell them, he becomes angry that they listened to him and changed. He goes up to a cliff overlooking the city and waits for God to punish them, because for Jonah, their repentance wasn’t enough. He didn’t want them to be saved. He didn’t like them! God’s mercy was too complete for him, because these Ninevites deserved to pay.
This is shocking. At least it should shock us.
But is it really so far from our selves as we would like to think?
Do we really want God to forgive the person we hate? Our Ninevites? Do we really want mercy for the family member who wronged us? The Boss who cheated us? The Friend who betrayed our trust? Do we really desire the salvation of the criminals or addicts we see on the news or on the street? How about that Politician we don’t like, or the people we know who support them. Do we speak of God’s merciful love, while fully expecting that He will punish them anyway?
Many of you may have seen the recent and powerful conversion of actor Shia LaBeouf. Known for his roles in the Transformers movie franchise, and the worst Indiana Jones film that came out a few years ago, and countless other movie and television work, he was a few years ago cast to play St. Padre Pio in a movie, and to research the role he spent a large amount of time with the Franciscan Friars in Oakland, California. In God’s Providence, this role as Padre Pio came to him in the middle of a very dark period of decline in his life, because as you may have also seen in the news of the last few years, Shia had been crashing into rock bottom continually for some time. Drugs, Alcohol, harassment, divorce, abuse, his life had collapsed around him in every conceivable way, and very publicly at that. But by the witness of the Franciscan Friars, he found his way to the Church, he met Jesus, and he stumbled onto God’s plan.
Now, I am naturally suspicious of ‘celebrity conversions’ myself, and so when this all first broke, I was surprised by how sincere it all seemed. Even so, the sincerity of his devotion to Jesus was proven by the fact that after the first publicity, he seemed to disappear from the public eye, until, at the beginning of this month, Shia was received into the Church in Confirmation. No fanfare, very little coverage, just an earnest and devout celebration. When this was originally in the news, though, He did an incredible video interview in August of 2022 with Bishop Robert Barron discussing the whole story, and I would encourage anyone to watch that for more context and depth. But there was one quote of his from it that really struck home.
He said “I hope our first response as Christians is ‘welcome home,’ not ‘I don’t like how you got here’ or ‘I doubt you’ll stay long.’”
This struck home for me because, in a way, this is exactly what I was thinking. I dont trust these kind of public conversions, as a rule. But whether from Jonah or from Shia, we can see that some people’s journey to God’s Plan will be shocking. Some will make it here kicking and screaming, and no other way, while for some the journey is a short and uneventful one. We can be sure that none are identical, and that’s kind of the point. Our God is personal, and He knows each of us and what we need more perfectly than we do.
Of course, as Shia learned, part of coming to the Church is realizing that there are requirements, that some things are not negotiable, and the fundamental truths of what Jesus taught is absolute. Unfortunately though, in our weakness and pride, we can all too easily see difference as threatening, especially when that difference pokes at our own unhealed wounds.
“That person doesn’t pray like I pray. They aren’t really Christian.”
“The way they encounter God is old fashioned and outdated, it must be artificial.”
Or maybe hardest one, the one that Jonah fell into: “Their sins are too great, because they’ve hurt me too much.”
But as a very wise priest once told me “It’s a big church,” and the sooner we understand that, the sooner we will be able to love the whole thing.
Because God’s mercy is endless, while so often ours is not. Forgiveness is painful. It takes real work to do it. And that’s okay. That’s the work of our lives. But for God, all it takes is the asking. Whether for our sins, or the sins of the person who has most hurt us, reconciliation is one request away. Because God rejoices in each and every one of us, He knows us intimately, and He gives us Himself. Whether we pray to him in English, Latin, French, Spanish, or Tagalog, and whether we call out to Him standing with our hands raised, or on our knees with our hands folded, He hears us and is wonderfully pleased we are here.
And this is even true for those Ninevites we have known.
Preached on Sunday, January 21st, 2024 at St. Peter’s Parish, Massena, NY
