+ We have two very colorful and imaginative readings today! The story of Jonah in particular is full of drama and movement. Jonah is tired of being the prophet of the Lord and wants to run away. He gets aboard ship, but the spirit of the Lord follows him and makes the sea turbulent. The shipmates find out that he is running away from God and know that the sea is angry because of it and so they ask Jonah to at least pray to his God to calm the sea so that they may not perish. This does not work. So Jonah tells them to throw him into the sea. They pray for forgiveness to his God first and then they throw him overboard. And a great calm does come over the sea. As Jonah sinks to the bottom he is swallowed by a large fish and remains there three days! Then at the Lord's command the fish spews Jonah out upon the shore (an obvious reference to the forthcoming resurrection of Jesus, after three days in the darkness of the earth).
The Lord rescues the lives of those who trust in him and who cry out to him!
In the gospel passage Jesus talks about the path that one must follow to inherit eternal life. Jesus answers a scholar of the law who was testing him by repeating to him the law: love God with all you got, and love your neighbor as yourself. Then when asked, "who is my neighbor?" Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan. The neighbor is anyone who is deserving of God's mercy: which includes everyone! And the most loving thing we can do is to treat all with mercy!
Jonah would come to learn the meaning of his job as prophet as one of loving service to God's people. So too must we learn the same. Whatever job or task the Lord assigns us, we are asked to do it with generosity, with grace and with love. I give you a new commandment: love one another as I have loved you!
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