A tale of whale and wail

Fr. Russ Bergman
Feb 25
1 min read

We’ve only gone a short distance on our Lenten journeys. How’s it going? Have we stuck to our plan, or better yet, the plan God has for us so far? Maybe we’ve slipped and missed a chance to pray, fast, or give. Not to worry. Like Jonah, we have more than just one chance. The reading today picks up at his second chance. The first time God calls Jonah to go to Nineveh, he takes the boat trip to run away, ending up in a large fish, often known as a whale. It helps to know Nineveh was enemy territory. Jonah has legitimate reasons to run from a hostile city so large it took three days to cross through, where he might be captured, enslaved, mistreated or killed. Nineveh also represents all the dangers we’re afraid of, like secular hostility surrounding us. After being saved, he follows God’s will a second time. He enters the risky region, wailing instead about how it will be destroyed. Having his own second chance, he shouts a warning for all who hear to turn back to God. The king took him seriously, and all the people followed and were saved. The whole season of Lent gives us the chance to correct our course by ourselves and as a community. Thank God for second chances.

Comments

Recent BLOG Posts

listen

The words from Jeremiah in the first reading: This is what I command my people; LISTEN to my voice” (the caps are mine) has haunted me most of the day even until now; it is midafternoon. I have been wondering how well I do as a listener. I have had all sorts of training as a therapist, priest, etc. to learn how to listen; but do I really listen to God? In reflecting today, I realize how noisy I have let my life begin. TV is on in the background, You tube videos, scrolling thr

Fr. Tom Konopka

9 hours ago2 min read

exile

It is thought that author of the book of Deuteronomy was a person writing towards the end of the Babylonian exile. He took the writings we know as the 5 Books of Moses and put them together so that a generation who have never been to Israel, saw the Temple of Jerusalem, and had grown up in a Babylonian culture would know the Sacred Story of how God chose their nation and how vital following the covenant made on Sinai was to the life of the people. My own thought is that it i

Fr. Tom Konopka

1 day ago2 min read

change

Yesterday and today, I was at two talks about change in the church. The present, Dr Richard McCorry authored a book, Dancing with Change, in 2004 and was the spark of my interest in how the change process works in the church. As I listened, it became clear to me that change is the core message of Christianity. Jesus came to show us how to change our hearts and enable them to be reflections of the divine image. We talk a lot about “conversion” and I wonder if we realize that t

Fr. Tom Konopka

2 days ago2 min read

2 3 4 5