Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
(Jonah 3:1-10; Luke
10:38-42)
Seven years ago ISIS
blew up what they thought was the tomb of the prophet Jonah. However, Jonah was not buried on that site
because he never existed, at least as the biblical book pictures him. Jonah is a story inspired by God to teach
Jews and the rest of humanity about God’s mercy. It extends to all creation, not just to
Israel.
The Book of Jonah was
written after the Jewish exile in Babylon, probably in the fifth century B.C.
Jews suffered greatly during the exile, but God had delivered them. God seemed
on their side, but they questioned how God relates to other nations? The Book of Jonah shows that God extends the
same mercy if the people there repent of their iniquity. God is bigger than Jewish nationalists at the
time wanted to admit.
It is a mistake to
think that God does not love and cannot forgive those who have not been
baptized. Vatican II made clear that His
love reaches out to all. Christ is
absolutely necessary for salvation, but access to him may be made secretly,
even unknowingly. What is necessary is
the person’s exhibiting the love Christ shared with us on the cross.
