Nineveh Now

The texts of the Roman Catholic Lectionary today tell of Jonah who is sent to call the people of Nineveh back to God. Friar Jude Winkler comments that this may be a parable for the people of Judah exiled to Babylon to open their eyes to the desire of God to be in relationship with all people, even those who have been enemies of the Chosen People. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus refers to two foreign figures from the Hebrew tradition who will be present at the final judgement of the people of Jesus time to point to the great opportunity for growth in wisdom and practice of the love and mercy of God they are missing in the Good News. The proclamation of the psalmist is that he knows of his sin before God and he understands that he is called to teach transgressors the ways of God. The appeal for the restoration of Jerusalem then, as now, is so dependent on the extension of the hand of peace and inclusion to those neighbours who have been thought as enemies. Friar Jude returns to his theme that we need to be very aware that the call of others by God is very difficult and improper for us to attempt to assess. We struggle with the Divine movement to love our enemies and we retreat to the false security of our spiritual tradition, nation, tribe, community and family. We continue to miss the sign of Jonah.